Forever Ride
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: PART 6: The war is global and widespread, and the flock, rather than being caught in the crossfire, have chosen their side. The end draws near... but not really.
1. Chapter 1

**Forever Ride**

Well, I wasn't going to start this, until I discovered that the seventh book is coming out in a matter of days… and I want to get the ball rolling before the book starts messing with my mindset, and the plans that I had for this story. I might be too late. I read a summary, and it promises to be just like the first six: an emotional stabbing machine that will be too heartwarming not to put on my top-priority bookshelf, but too depressing to ever read a second time. Assuming I read it at all; I don't know if my heart can take a seventh helping.

Anyway, here's the sixth and, most certainly, final issue of my Max fanfiction. It's gonna be hard to let go…

**Chapter 1**

Through the halls of an office building came a tall man in a black trench coat and shades concealing his eyes. Next to him was a woman, almost as tall as he was, wearing black leather gloves concealing her arms all the way to the shoulder and, most ominously, an eyepatch over her right eye.

"Excuse me," the man said to a middle-aged woman heading for a door. "Name's Alton Rush. The wifey and I are lookin' for a mug named Emil Yozan."

"This office right here," the woman said. "How do you know Emil?"

"We've… _heard _of him," the man said.

"What exactly have you heard?"

"Well," Rush's wife said, "we've been told that Mr. Yozan is a small-time crook who can provide us with drugs, counterfeit documents, and various other forms of sensitive contraband. Were we misinformed?"

The older woman laughed aloud. "No, I'd say you nailed it. Come on in. I'm Emil's receptionist, I think he can see you right now."

Opening the door for them, the woman noticed the eyepatch on Alton Rush's wife. "What happened to you?" she asked.

She shrugged. "I'm dealing with Emil. It's a rough business."

"Too true, too true," Emil's receptionist muttered, smirking. "Emil, there's a Mr. Rush here to see you."

Emil stepped out of his office. He was in a blue suit and black shoes, and his hair was black and thick. "Mr. Rush? I don't think I know you…"

The man took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of black-on-black eyes.

"We haven't met," he said. "I'm here on a personal errand."

Emil's receptionist narrowed her eyes. "Fang…" she muttered.

The man's coat shredded as he spread a pair of black wings. Emil Yozan flinched away.

"A personal… errand?" he muttered.

Fang nodded. "For my mother."

And with a single mighty punch, Emil was unconscious.

"Whoa," the receptionist commented.

Fang nodded to her. "That'll be all," he said.

Emil's receptionist poked him with her foot. "Didn't expect Fang to turn up here," she said. "What's your problem with Emil?"

"He's, uh… he's my father. I just met my mom, and… well, she asked me a favor."

The receptionist looked between the two. "Oh, I can see it!" she said. "I completely see it! Those eyes that you're so famous for…" She noticed the woman who had accompanied Fang. "So… your 'wifey'? That isn't…"

Max blinked her one visible chocolate-brown eye, then flicked off the eyepatch, revealing a perfectly round eye socket, covered with a glass lens and filled with golden light. She peeled off her arm-length gloves—and her arms were made entirely of gray steel, black iron, and white chrome. She flexed her fingers, which ended in deadly, edged claws.

"Whoa, Max," the receptionist said. "What happened to you?"

"Well, I wasn't lying when I said I was in a tough business," Max said. She reached over to the unconscious form of Emil, lifting his eyelids. "Fang, she's right," Max said. "You've got his eyes… they don't work on _him_, though. You can pull it off." She trained her cybernetic eye on the receptionist. "Explain things to Emil once he comes to. In fact, tell everyone you meet… we're going public. There's no more environmental awareness, lady. This is a _war_. And we—my flock—are going onto the front lines."

The woman nodded. "I got you. So, um… where are you kids staying nowadays?"

"Sorry," Max said. "We don't answer fan questions. But good to know you're on board. What's your name?"

"Beth, but everybody calls me Glue."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hello, Mr. Valducci."

"Please, just call me Sand," the blond-bearded man said.

"As you wish, sir. Here's your escort, sir. This is Mr. Zeal."

The skinny man in a white lab coat uneasily shook Sand's hand. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, Mr. Zeal. Ha ha ha… oh, it's quite comforting to see a mad scientist who's a _Mister_."

"Um… it's true, I have no doctorate, but, um… well, I'm here to take you to your superiors."

Sand and Zeal walked down the hallways. They were narrow, but extremely tall.

"Today, you're going to be working under the 'Threes'," Zeal explained. "Professors Boyar, McAllister, and ter Borcht."

"ter Borcht? Roland ter Borcht?"

"That's him, sir."

"Unbelievable," Sand muttered, smiling.

Mr. Zeal led Sand into a room with a round table. The two of them sat down, opposite the three Threes. Sand recognized McAllister, a heavily scarred and cut-up man, Boyar, a very attractive woman who never seemed to get out of her levitating chair, and ter Borcht, towering over the other two on his large chair.

"Sand Valducci," Boyar proclaimed in her thick Spanish accent. "Did you succeed in bringing Dr. Dwyer back into my possession."

"I did not," Sand said. "Brigid Dwyer's insanity has taken her by the bits; she's purely convinced that she belongs with Fang and the flock."

ter Borcht turned away, and McAllister stood up hastily. "Well, on the subject of the flock," he said nervously. "Over the past eighteen years, our organization has begun to notice the rather unusual direction the experiments are taking."

"Such as?" Sand said. He was taunting them—a dangerous game, but Sand was confident with his own value. They outranked him, but he was infinitely more important.

McAllister cleared his throat and held up a sheet of paper. "We open with 'Gasman'," he said. "Twelve years old, in good shape, his spare powers developing as normal… he has recently begun a coital relationship with an unknown mutant stolen from Itex's London base two years ago."

"Coital?" Sand said.

"Sexual," Boyar offered.

"I know what the word _means_, I merely object to it. There are much better—"

"Angel," McAllister interrupted. "Nearly eleven, with a multitude of powers that can only be described as godly. The onset of puberty has promised to bring with it even more skills."

"Is that a problem?" Sand said. "We all knew their age was mildly accelerated."

Boyar leaned across the table toward Sand. "A very weak _minority_ of events are going as planned," she whispered harshly. "Iggy, seventeen—content in his blindness, using technology _other than our own_ to compensate for it."

"Other than our—?"

"Nudge, fourteen," Boyar said, increasing in volume. "Weakening. Softening. Carnally involved with Iggy."

"They're married," Sand corrected.

Roland ter Borcht finally turned around in his chair, and dropped down onto the table, stomping over to Sand.

"Dese tings vere _not supposed to hoppen_," he snarled. "Max II vos not supposed to be spared! She travels vith the flock now. Zey call her 'Tooey'. An unknown mutant has expressed an interest in her. Airy—ze daughter of Max and Fang. _Max and Fang vere not supposed to breed_."

"Well, what do you want _me_ to do?" Sand demanded. "I haven't seen those two since they were ten years old! What was I supposed to do, stand over them and tell them they're bad for each other?"

ter Borcht fumed. "If zey had remained locked up, tings may have gone according to plan."

"You _know_ that's not true," Sand said. "If they had remained at School, they would have come into adulthood far too weak to accomplish anything. If they had cooperated with your various… _attempts_… that would only prove they have no free will."

"McAllister!" ter Borcht roared. "Remove Mr. Valducci and explain tings to him."

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Sand went along with the things that Professor McAllister had to say.

"The final obstacle is Headmaster and his Survivors," McAllister said. "Once we're clear of them, you—YOU, Sand, take full responsibility for this—the flock must be divided. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel must _never_ see each other again. This is what the world needs."

McAllister left. Sand stared after him, feeling nothing but amusement.

"Up yours with what the world needs," Sand whispered. "Mr. Zeal, come with me."

Zeal followed Sand nervously.

"These fools," Sand muttered. "Their plans can be deconstructed in an instant."

"But how can that be?" Zeal asked. "They control _everything_."

"Not people, they don't. And Maximum Ride and the mutants she loves are more 'people' than anyone you or I will be privileged to meet. The Threes think that they can train the flock to work alongside them to rebuild the world, this is simply not true."

"What can be done for humanity, then?" Zeal said.

"The flock can do it themselves," Sand said. "The Threes seek to rule humanity via the flock. But it's the flock who'll rule humanity. The flock who will _be_ humanity, all that's left of it."

"I don't understand your motivations, Mr. Valducci," Zeal said.

"Oh, well, Sand Valducci looks out for number one."

Zeal frowned. "I don't follow, sir… if the flock are the only humans left, then won't _you_ die as well?"

"Not that kind of number one," Sand said. "Follow me."

Zeal followed Sand deep into the bowels of the well-lit building. Deep underground, farther than any other man-made structure had ever reached, Sand pushed open a door.

On the wall was a three-hundred-foot-tall holographic image of a ten-year-old Maximum Ride. Her muscles shrunken, her wings shriveled, her eyes miserable, this photo had been taken not long before Jeb Batchelder had stolen her, made her strong.

The thirty-story picture was captioned. It read, _Maximum Ride: Number One_.

"Oh," Zeal said. "I understand now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, reviewers… not a word to me about book 7. 'Cause I don't want to know yet. Assuming I **_**ever**_** want to know, because, again, stabbing machine. Anyway, I think I've finally got myself re-invested in this tale, so let's get rolling again.**

**Chapter 3**

Fang and I were flying together. Mostly together, as it's hard to stay level in mid-flight. There's a lot more to think about than when you're just walking.

"Man, I hope everybody's okay," Fang muttered. "A lot can happen in a week…"

I shrugged. "Not _my_ idea to go beat up your dad."

Fang snickered. "Yeah, I know. Felt like it needed to be done, though. My mother told me all about him, and… well, he's a bad guy. We get rid of bad guys. It's what we do."

"I've never really seen us as superheroes," I admitted. "First of all, I think our own interests are pretty important. Not very heroic of me…"

"Oh, listen to yourself," Fang said, gliding in closer to me. "Come on. The world falling apart at the seams… you could hide. But you're fighting! That's… well, that's brave. I love you for it."

I closed my eyes. Well, my one eye, and the other is more of a robotic optical lens… anyway, I closed them both.

"I'm not strong enough, Fang," I said.

"Of course you're strong enough. You're _mighty_."

"No, it's not enough. Not enough for what's coming."

He came closer to me. "What's coming?"

I sighed, opening my eyes again. "A lot of things, Fang. And I have to fight them, no matter what, but… I don't know if I'll succeed."

Fang touched my back gently. "Sure you will," he said. "I mean, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you can beat back anything."

I shrugged. "I hope so, babe."

Fang spun in the air, flying upside-down directly below me. "Max," he said.

"Yeah?"

"In the dark of any night, the heat of any fire, the horror of any battle, you and I will never be parted, because I love you more than anything else in the world. I stand by you, offering my heart, my hand, my kiss, to the end of time. _You_ are my everything."

I stared at him for many moments, before realizing my mouth was gaping. I cracked my jaw and made eye contact with him again. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Iggy. When he wrote his own wedding vows and made _me_ look like an idiot. I've been composing that for a while, and finally found the moment to present it. So, that's my vow."

I smiled. "It's nice. I'll have to make up some, too."

"No pressure."

"Of course there's pressure, you idiot. That was freakin' beautiful."

He took my hand as we spun around in the air. "_You_'re freakin' beautiful."

God, that dude's too much sometimes. Overwhelmed, I averted my eyes and downed a Red Bull.

"That should do it," I said. "I've got enough juice for another burst of super-speed. Grab my ankle."

He did, and I rocketed off into the night. Up north, to our latest CSM hangout in the middle-of-nowhereness of Alaska.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After flying through the night, we dove through a low cloud and into a snowy field. Our first sign of the base was young Ella, practicing some attack moves with an electrified trident.

"What up, Ellzy?" I said.

She smiled at us. "Hey, guys. How's your dad, Fang?"

"Charming," Fang said simply. "Nice moves, sis."

"Thanks," Ella said. "Weird thing, nobody really appreciates the art of mêlée combat anymore. Nowadays, everybody's just got a _gun_."

"True," I said. "But why are you concerned about that? You're not going to actually fight, are you?"

"Well, yeah, don't I have a say here? You're my sister."

"Yeah, you are," I replied. "And that's why you're not going near any kind of battle. Mkay? If I see you in battle, I'm gonna pick you up and carry you as far away as I can, then put you down on the ground before returning to the battle. And that's just taking time out of _my_ day, okay, and that's bad manners."

"No fair," Ella pouted.

I held her shoulder tightly with my metal hand. "I hate seeing you in harm's way," I said. "Okay? You're important to me."

"What about the flock?" Ella demanded. "You let _them_ fight."

"Yeah, well, they've got feathers and you don't," I countered. "Ella, I love you too much to let you fight."

Ella sighed. "Yeah, okay…" she grumbled. "_Feathers_…"

Fang and I walked past her, and spotted Gazzy along with his poorly-chosen squeeze, Falon. Short, slender, red-headed, with a scar across her face… I had no problem with her aesthetics. My disapproval of her as a match for Gazzy ran quite a bit deeper.

Gazzy had his arms tightly around her when he noticed us. "Hey, guys," he said.

Falon winked. "Fearless leader," she greeted me.

"Heartless molester," I replied courteously. "Gaz, round up the troops."

"Why don't we just take the elevator?" Gazzy said cheerfully.

And by a super-secret process made possible by rather friendly rich people, we were lowered underground, into a brightly-lit room tall and wide enough to accomodate a skyscraper, or two or three Japanese monsters. All over the ground were our old CSM cohorts, a few hundred of them. As we were lowered, we saw the graceful outlines of bird-folk, swooping around the scaffolds to practice their best combat maneuvers.

Forty stories down, we walked out onto the gleaming floors. The swooping figures popped down to greet us. It was the "new" flock. They were led by Imogen, the most perfect and beautiful twerp I ever met… that is, she _was_. While she'd always had bat wings, the pointy ears bigger than her head and the row of needle teeth were new additions that, well, we were all trying to figure out.

Falon's twin Jacqueline matched her in every way, minus the giant burn mark which, frankly they _both_ deserved, but karma apparently hadn't caught up to Jax just yet. Yeah, they call her Jax and I do too. For me, it's more out of ease than fondness. Trust me, there's no fondness there, no matter how much of a sucker Gazzy is for a couple of pairs of… oh, let's say "eyes". Green ones.

Imogen's heartthrobby sidekick Sean stood ever by her side, along with Max II. Or, as we had come to call her, Tooey, for want of a distinguishing name that didn't drop her identity. Technically, she was mine, not Imogen's, but she and I were the bridge, the bond between the flocks. Tooey had developed a great best-friend bond with Imogen, and Sean… oh, God, Sean…

Does she think I can't see in her face that she and Sean totally did it? For crying out loud, she might as well be another one of his floozies. But I didn't say that aloud.

Oh, wait, yeah I did. I don't know what I was thinking; I don't keep opinions to myself.

Tooey laughed it off. "Hey, that's the only part of a relationship I have _any_ idea of how to do. And, as it turns out, the only part he's good at."

"Yeah, I'd say you're settling," I replied. But I winked at Sean and gave him a thumbs-up to indicate I was merely teasing.

Then came the flying featherball that was my daughter, Airy. Next month, Fang would be eighteen, and the month after that, Airy was four. She tackled me in flight—a little quirk of hers since she learned to fly was that she never let her feet touch the ground if she could avoid it—and held my head in her hands.

"Mommy," she whispered. "The puppies have been born."

I gasped. "The… you mean Akila's puppies?"

So the late Total lives on…

"Uh-huh!" Airy said. "Come see! Come see!"

She rocketed off, and Fang and I ran after her. We found her dangling from the scaffolding, pointing down at Akila, with her six puppies, days old, gathered around.

Their hair was thick, like both of their parents, and they were all Total's deep black. A few of them had little patches of gray, signature to their mother.

"Innit sweet?" Iggy called. He was cuddling Nudge… well, enveloping her, really. She's the second-tallest of the flock but he has her beat by a good eleven inches. Either it's a design feature or he's Swedish, but that info is out of our reach.

"I named them," Airy said sweetly. She fluttered down and pointed to the six puppies. "Three boy puppies and three girl puppies," she explained. "I name them after Mommy and Daddy—Max, and Fang."

The one she identified as Fang was the only male who was all-black. Smart kid.

"And my aunties Nudge and Angel are here," she said, pointing to two other pups. "And here's Gazzy, and… um… I don't know what I'm going to call this one."

Iggy took a moment to process that, then yelled "HEY!"

Airy giggled her little head off. "I'm just kidding, Uncle Iggy," she said.

I saw a new hand petting Akila… it was Brigid.

My cue to go, maybe? Probably. I turned to go.

"Max, wait," Brigid said. She clasped her hand over my arm. I flexed my fingers automatically.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Max…" Brigid stammered. "You know that… that I belong… _here_, right?"

"What, you mean Alaska?"

Brigid shook her head. "No, no, no… I mean with the flock. With you. I belong with all of you. Do you understand that?"

I slipped my arm away from her. "Yeah, I get that, Brigid. See you around."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"_Hey. I want to talk to you._"

The words of her native Mandarin Chinese shocked Lao Hu for a moment. Her lifelong friend Shey dropped from the ceiling, though Lao Hu still had a hard time connecting this creature to the Shey she knew. Seven feet tall with claws, wings, and a long tail, Shey was now so completely covered in black feathers that her facial features were indecipherable.

"What is it, Shey?" Lao Hu said.

"_Any number of things,_" Shey replied, still in Mandarin. "_I want to know if the siblings Liu can still count you among our allies._"

"I suppose," Lao Hu said slowly. "Is there something unusual I should know about?"

Shey paced back and forth. "_My brother Lang and I—and you know how grateful I am to you, Lao Hu, you being the sole reason I can refer to having a brother…_"

"_I'm well aware of our history,_" Lao Hu interrupted. "_But do tell me, why are we speaking Chinese?_"

Shey paused, then continued in English. "I figured our native tongue, even if we haven't said a single Chinese word in the past ten years, might get through to you; you, who's always talking about how Chinese you are, and how your name is Cho Lao Hu and not Lao Hu Cho, as if anybody cares…"

"Well, I _am_ a Cho," Lao Hu interrupted. "You know my family history matters to me."

"Yeah, but it sure as hell doesn't matter to anyone else," Shey snapped. "In this era, nobody cares who your family was… unless you're a Ride."

"A Ride?"

"Max, you bimbo. Keep up. What I'm saying is, old human ideals are out the window. What they care about right now is whether you can survive in adverse conditions. Which you can't. You can't even make out with your boyfriend without him breaking both of your arms."

"You _know_ that was an accident," Lao Hu hissed.

"Whatever! Look—you're human. And right now, that's the worst thing you can claim to be. They know—_know_, mind you, that humanity is dead."

"And who's 'they', Shey? The people who turned you into a monster? It doesn't sound like it's the Survivors."

"No, it wasn't the Survivors," Shey said, admiring her own hands and arms. "Like I said before, I know a guy, and that's all you're getting." Shey stood up to her full height and looked down at Lao Hu. "Lao Hu, because of all we've been through… or maybe in deadly spite of it… I don't want you to die."

"I won't," Lao Hu said. "Jewel and I are members of the Survivors."

"'Survivors'… a name, Lao Hu. The Survivors, the damned still-think-they're-humans Survivors, are going to die along with everybody else."

"Unless we can survive adverse conditions," Lao Hu concluded.

"Catching up. Lao Hu, I want you to get a modification."

"You mean, mutate? Me?"

"Yes," Shey said. "You may as well! Jewel promised that the only people he kills now are humans, so you might as well cross yourself off that list."

"Jewel won't _kill_ me. He loves me."

"Not the point," Shey said. "_Someone_'s going to kill you if you lack the proper strength."

Lao Hu squirmed. "I don't want to look like _you_, Shey."

"And you don't have to. Just… I'll hook you up with the bare minimum you need to _not die_."

"I'll have to think about it, Shey."

"No, you don't," Shey hissed. "I want you there with me after the end of the world. We're getting you upgraded _now_."

"I'm touched," Lao Hu admitted. "But—"

Shey grabbed Lao Hu's throat. "If you don't have the chops to survive, I'll kill you right now. It would be a great deal more kind."

Lao Hu tensed. "You think you _can_? Merely because you're a monster, and my best years are behind me? I'm still an assassin."

"Yes, well, I'm the girl who knows everything about combat that _you_ do, and no less. And also a monster. You really want to get into it with me?"

"I led the Five before you were even born," Lao Hu growled.

"Only because Gwan let you," Shey shot back. "Get real, you were twelve years old. You think you _earned_ it?"

Lao Hu leaned back. "Let's not fight, Shey. I submit. Tell me how I can receive this mutation. Because what you're offering, well, I do want to live."

"Damn right you do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The pace of life slowed, as it always does.

I tossed a few cards absently, then did a double-take at Airy.

"Airy, what's that?" I demanded.

She hid it behind her back. "Barbie," she said blankly.

"You have a Barbie? Give me that… I don't want you playing with… with…"

"But look, Mommy," Airy said. "It's an Auntie Nudge Barbie."

I looked at it. Yeah, there was that face, and the caramelly hair… I laughed. "It does look like Auntie Nudge, doesn't it? But…"

I jumped in surprise as I touched a button on its back, and a pair of wings slowly emerged. It truly was a Nudge Barbie.

I tracked down Nudge. "Hey, cocoa puff," I said. "What's this?"

"You know, Max, that's Iggy's name for me, you really shouldn't…"

"What _is _it, Nudge?"

Nudge smiled at me. "Sorry about this, Max, but Mattel is currently making collectible dolls out of all of us. I sold them the rights last week. We got a set for free."

"Yeah," Iggy said. "See, here's me." He held up a doll with his pale face, blue eyes and spiky hair. I had to laugh again, it was uncanny.

"Nudge, I really don't recall approving this," I said. "I mean, using all of our images…"

Iggy wheeled over a cart with the entire set, mounted on little wire stands. There was Tooey, Imogen, Sean, slightly shorter dolls for Gazzy, Angel, and the twins—evidently there's a preteen size, damned if I knew that—and a very small child doll in the image of Airy.

"Aw, Max, look, it's what you've always wanted," Fang mocked.

I looked at the Nudge doll still in my hand. "I guess I worry about Airy's role models," I said to Nudge, placing the doll on a stand. "I mean, _you_, that's fine. Barbie, not so much. You-Barbie, I'd have to weigh the options."

Nudge nodded. "I got you."

"Oh, Max?" Fang called. "They also make _us_."

He held up the dolls.

Well, that was Fang all right. Not that it's hard to nail him. He's practically Goth Rock Barbie already…

And me… they really captured the real me. My hair… my mismatched eyes… the cybernetic arms…

It was really me. This doll wasn't the ideal beauty. It was a perfect _me_.

"Gimme," I said, taking it. "How… how do they use my image without my permission?"

"Like it's hard to fake your signature?" Nudge said. "But, look, if you're really objecting to this, I'll take them off the market…"

"No! I love my Barbie," I said, pulling her in defensively.

That started up some snickers from everyone… ah, well.

"But how, Nudge?" I muttered.

"Oh, I found out they'd been looking to contact us, so I dropped them a line."

I looked up at her. "And… why?"

She tapped the Heartbeat, the glowing blue cube that she always kept near her. Not to be mistaken with her _other_ large cube, the Living Cell, though that one was black and pulsating. "Printing money with the Heartbeat isn't going to work forever, Max. We can't pay for everything in cash. We need a bank account, and we need a realistic place for the money to come from. These are gonna sell by the millions, Max, and we get one percent of it."

I smiled. "Well, good, Nudge. You've really got this planned out."

She shrugged modestly. "Just thinking ahead to the future."

That statement hit me hard. I still hadn't told anyone about what I'd seen on… on the other side. I walked up to Nudge and gave her a hug. "Nudge… and everybody… your sentiment is good, but… well, sometimes the future can't just be seized like that. Sometimes the future is… is something you have to fight."

Nudge uneasily hugged me back. I felt a lot of eyes on me, trying to figure out what I'd just said.

I saw the penetrating glare of Angel, and felt her jabbing at my brain. But even the local telepath/psychic/repeat offender/pubescent nightmare couldn't get past my secret. Whenever I thought of it, it just turned up as a blank point for her. That hadn't even worked for the Voice… so the way I saw it, this was _meant_ to be a secret.

I darted my eyes in as many directions as I could, trying to find a way to alleviate the tension… over Nudge's shoulder, I caught sight of the dolls.

"Gotta put some bat ears on that Imogen doll," I said.

Imogen pushed a button on the doll's back, and the ears swept out from behind her hair, just like the wings did.

"Oh, good," I said, smiling.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sean kissed my fingertips, then worked his way up my arm and shoulder to gently kiss my face.

Tooey here, and my blood is burning. I think I'm going crazy. This kind of proximity to another person is something I've never experienced…

"Hey, Sean?" I muttered.

"Yeah?"

"Um…" I realized I didn't actually have anything to say. "I, um, I like this, Sean. A lot."

He breathed in deeply. "I like it too, Max. Ye're the—"

I flipped over and jabbed my finger into his face. "What'd you just call me?"

"Er… Max?" he offered.

I stared hard at him.

"What, that's yer name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but everybody's supposed to call me Tooey. Nobody calls me Max except Max."

"…What?" Sean said blankly.

"This… this entire relationship was all part of your sick fantasy to have sex with Max, wasn't it?"

"WHAT?" Sean demanded.

"Yeah," I said, piecing it together. "You've always wanted her. Fang told me."

"Ye're mad. Tooey, I've had feelins for ye…"

"Lies," I said. "You're a horndog, same as I thought in the beginning… a horndog with bird DNA—you're a bird-dog!"

Sean began to speak, then apparently processed what I had said and dropped his defensive posture. "Okay, now ye're just bein' silly."

"We're through, Sean," I said. "Don't… well, we'll still have to talk to each other. It's a flock, after all. But we're done."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"He called me Max," I explained to Imogen in her bunk that night. "He's… he hasn't changed."

"I wouldn't want him t' change from what he is," Imogen said, smiling. "Ye know, he's me brother and I love him."

"So, is he the same as every guy?" I muttered. "Wanting nothing but sex, women being interchangeable…"

"No," Imogen said. "_Not_ all men are like that, and Sean's one of those who's not."

I sighed. "You're wrong, Imogen. I know you love him, but… I think I have him figured out."

"Aye, maybe ye do," Imogen said. "Well, it's too bad, I liked ye two together, and I think ye're still hooked on him. Ye know where ye went wrong, don't you?"

"I didn't go wrong, he just sucks."

"No, ye skipped a step in there."

"No I didn't."

"I'm gonna tell ye where ye went wrong…"

"Don't."

"See, what ye two did…"

"I'm warning you."

"Ye jumped inta bed," Imogen finished.

"Hate you," I said.

"No ye don't, ye idolize me," she taunted.

I held up a hand. "No. My idol is Maximum Ride. But, yeah… I _do_ aspire to be as cool as you."

She smiled sadly. "I don't _feel_ cool, Tooey. I feel like I'm just another piece of the puzzle… the inadequate piece."

"Well, that's why I love you," I said. "You're so great, but you always compare yourself to the people around you, and… I don't know. You _are_ adequate."

"No, I'm not."

"Are."

"I'm not, and I'll prove it to ye by initiatin' a battle I can't possibly win. Hyah!"

She creamed me with a pillow. I picked up one of my own, but paused when I noticed Iggy and Gazzy lurking outside.

"Gaz, I do believe we're witnessing the beginnings of a woman's pillow fight," Iggy said.

"Are we?" Gazzy said. "And here I thought such a thing was the stuff of fable…"

I walked over and shut the steel door in their faces. I leaned against the door, smirking at Imogen.

"You think they're still there?" I said.

"Let's find out," Imogen said. "Tooey, I don't know how t' kiss, can ye teach me?"

I heard something clattering to the floor directly outside. "They haven't left," I said. "Good call."

"Well, there ye go. But listen, Tooey, ye… ye're okay about Sean, right? Ye're not hurt too badly?"

"No, I'm fine."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I came across Nudge shooting darts at a target in our base.

"Hey, Nudge," I said conversationally. "Knocked up yet?"

"No," she said sadly. "I want to be, though. I want a baby…"

"Aw, I'm sorry," I said. "Too bad… but maybe you should take it easy. What kind of lunatic tries to get pregnant at fourteen?"

She stared at me. "You."

Damn. I forgot about that. "Airy was an accident."

"Oh, that makes you so much better than me," she said, purely in good humor.

I wandered off, alone. There wasn't as much of a density of people here as there had been at the Irish base, which, on a primal level, was comforting. Aloneness felt a lot more like aloneness.

I spotted Dr. Martinez in the crowd. "Hey, Mom," I said weakly.

"Hi, Max, what's on your mind?" she said.

"Eh, not a whole lot. Well, the war. But if that _didn't_ keep me up at night I'd be worried about myself… and, well, there's just some kind of thing going with the flock. You heard that Max dumped Sean, right? And that's after they started sleeping together… ugh, it's just so sad and sickly, and… and then there's Gazzy! I don't know _what_ he sees in that awful Falon…"

Mom considered me for a moment. "Come here, let me show you something."

She walked me to a high vantage point, where I saw Gazzy. He had his arm around Falon and was holding up several snacks.

"Soda?" he offered her. She took a sip from the straw. "Candy?" he said, offering her a box. She took a piece. Then, "More soda?" and she took more. "Kiss?" Gazzy offered. And she kissed him.

"Mmm, tasty kiss," Gazzy said.

"So yummy," Falon said peacefully.

I looked at Mom. "Okay, I admit it, they're cute," I said grudgingly. "What's your point? It's still wrong. She assaulted him."

"Well, she and her sister have done all they could think of to atone," Dr. Martinez said. "I'm sure her conscience is still heavy, and for that very reason, it shouldn't be."

I snorted. "Well, he's twelve and she's fourteen. It's not appropriate…"

"You're talking about age? Max, look at Airy over there. Does she look like a four-year-old to you?"

I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you."

"Well, that's my point. There really aren't any rules, about age, among you and the others like you. Gazzy is twelve, yes, but the development of his brain, his body, his life itself, I don't see anything wrong about his being so close to Falon… any more than when Nudge lost her virginity at eleven. It may sound a bit… _disturbing_, when spoken, but getting right down to it, your DNA itself entitles you, all of you, to certain exceptions." She looked at me, mockingly stern. "You'll recall when _you_ were pregnant at fourteen, I didn't even bat an eye."

I chuckled sheepishly. "I just figured you were being a really cool mom, same as always," I said. "What about Tooey and Sean? I worry about _them_, you know…"

"Oh, Tooey is a special case. She's, well, your age. An adult. But she's only been alive for five years… and the two Irish kids were both pampered. I think Tooey and Sean are both too naïve for the kind of intimacy they were trying to have."

Down below, Falon had begun tickling Gazzy.

"Falon, no!" he said. "Don't do—OOO—oo that."

"Aha!" I said. I floated down to them. "I heard your voice crack! We'll see who's a man now… Okay, new rule. No romantic relationships until you can keep your voice at a normal, adult pitch and volume."

Gazzy smirked at me. "Is that right, Max?"

And when he turned to Falon and spoke, it was in the pleasant baritone of George Takei. "Falon, darling, might I interest you in a romantic flight through the Alaskan pines followed by a pleasant evening in the boudoir?"

Falon giggled. "Love to," she replied. They departed.

I looked pitifully up to Mom, who merely shrugged. "You kind of stepped into that one, honey," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The Survivor's black, cylindrical tower materialized, and its electric red force field opened briefly, long enough for a man to step in.

"Hello, Roland," said Marian Janssen.

"Marian," he replied. "It is good to see you again. I alvays said you vere a survivor."

Janssen laughed. "Ah, yes, I am. My Headmaster has cared for me quite well. Oh, Princess Kellie?"

The spindly red-eyed woman exited the tower, coming up behind Janssen, who frowned deeply.

"Kellie, don't look so glum. We have a visitor."

Kellie straightened. "Hello," she said.

Marian turned her lined face to ter Borcht. "So, Roland, where have you been?"

"I haff taken great strides in my chosen organization," ter Borcht replied. "I am vhat zey call a 'sree'."

Marian blinked. "A what?"

"A sree. A _drei_."

"Oh, a 'Three'," Janssen said. "I understand… what does it mean?"

ter Borcht didn't answer for a moment. "My people seek ze flock."

"Ugh," Janssen said. "Don't even _talk_ about them… I for one am through with the flock."

Kellie looked up, interested.

"And vhat interests you, princess?" ter Borcht asked.

"Max is my sister," Kellie said quietly.

"Ah, zat explains it…" ter Borcht said. "Ze power…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Janssen said. "Kellie's beauty and wonder is in _spite_ of her blood relation to the inferior Maximum Ride. But Roland… will you join the Survivors?"

ter Borcht laughed. "Oh, zere's no need for zat. My people will take very good care of me. And zey'll take care of your Survivors as vell."

Kellie shrank back from that ominous statement. Janssen and ter Borcht looked each other over for a few moments.

A feathered creature glided around the base of the tower, then paused, turning its Cheshire-cat-grin on ter Borcht.

"Hey, Dr. ter-B," he rumbled.

Roland ter Borcht nodded back. "Greetings, Mr. Liu. I trust you're satisfied?"

"Damn right," Lang said. He laughed powerfully, then glided around the other way.

Janssen turned, surprised, to ter Borcht.

"I'm his 'guy'," ter Borcht explained.

"_You_ did that to him and his sister?" Janssen said.

"_Ja_. You may vant to keep an eye on zem." He laughed. "Goodbye, Marian. See you soon."

ter Borcht turned around and walked through the force field. Janssen watched as the landscape around the tower changed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Max's double paced back and forth through the snow, while the original Max, _my_ Max, combed her hair with her clawed hands.

"You know, Fang?" Tooey said.

"Yeah?"

"You're… you're way hotter than Sean."

"I'm aware."

Tooey laughed. "But… I don't know, did I throw Sean out too early? I mean, we had chemistry…"

"Well, I do think it was a simple mistake," I offered. "We only _just_ started calling you Tooey, after all."

"It's your decision, Tooey," Max said. "But if you think Sean isn't good enough for you…"

"What choice do I have?" Tooey said. "You see anybody else around who's a match for me?"

Max sighed. "Oh, Tooey, I know you've always wanted a boyfriend, but…"

"I _need_ one," she corrected sadly. "And Sean is the only option."

Max II vanished down into the ground. Max and I were silent for a moment.

"I worry about her so much," Max muttered. "I worry about all the guys, everyone who's not an original flocker."

I stared. "Can I ask why?"

She shrugged. "Well, all I can say is that everybody who doesn't have a puppy named after them is… potentially in deep trouble."

"And… we're _not_?" I said, trying to figure her out.

"Forget I said anything, Fang."

As it happened, I did, immediately, as Tooey burst out of the ground, closely followed by Sean.

"DAMN YOU!" Tooey shrieked. "GET AWAY! I HATE YOU!" She paused and looked at Max. "What's wrong with you, Max? All your concerns about keeping Gazzy away from Falon? What about me, huh? Didn't you care enough to warn _me_ about what I was getting into? Falon's _great_ compared to…" She dove at Sean, enraged. "TO HIM!"

"Ye know, I thought ye were special," Sean hissed. "Different from other women."

"Oh, well, sorry about giving you that impression," Tooey snarled. "I guess in the way I react to catching my boyfriend having sex with somebody else, I'M HORRIBLY TYPICAL!"

Imogen popped out of the ground as well. Max flexed her knuckles and glared at Sean. "You've already got another bimbo?" she hissed.

"We broke up!" Sean demanded. "Imogen, ye heard her, right? She said we were finished! I had every right!"

Imogen stared solemnly. "Sean, ye can't possibly think she meant that."

"Why the bloody hell not? She SAID it! Women—a bunch o' cowardly, double-talking…"

Imogen punched Sean straight in the face.

"I'm done defendin' ye," she snarled. "Ye're a pig, brother, and I'm not gonna take yer misogyny anymore."

"Oh, good," Max II snarled. "You're going to stop enabling once he's become _pure evil_, but before that—"

"Hey!" Imogen said, pointing at her harshly. "I'm on yer side, Tooey!"

I turned to Max. "Max, we can't let this drama play out in real-time. With these three all angry at each other, they'll be useless to our team."

"I know," Max replied. "I totally get what you're saying. It seems that the bad link is Sean, but can we afford to get rid of him?"

"I don't think so," I muttered. "If this is war, the idea of any less of us just sounds… unsettling…"

Max shrugged. "The least we can do is throw out Sean's trash. Let's go."

We started for the patch of earth that disguised the elevator, but found someone was already rising, a young woman wrapped in a blanket. She looked over at Max II, Imogen, and Sean, entangled in their fury.

"Damn," she said quietly. "What have I started again?" She noticed me and Max. "Oh, hi!" she said.

I brightened with recognition, then noticed Max's face blackening, her golden eye squeezing shut with fury.

I tried to recover from my initial jump, and tried quite deliberately to stammer. "Oh, hey there. Was it Linda?"

She giggled. "No, silly, I'm Lissa!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was her. The Red-Haired Wonder, the object of the single greatest hatred I'd ever harbored…

My claws stretched out slowly, my entire body quaking. "Ooooh," I growled. "I… have… had… enough."

She quivered. "Are… are you going to kill me?"

"It crossed my mind," I said.

"I swear, I didn't know that Sean was supposed to be with Tooey," she said quietly. "I think he really likes me…"

I started to walk toward her. "That's none of my concern," I said. "Why are you _here_?"

She backed away nervously. "I told you… I met Sean yesterday…"

"Who sent you?"

"No one sent me, Max! I don't even know what you're talking about."

I leapt at her. "I never thought you were totally innocent, you bitch. And now you're back in our life… WHO SENT YOU? WHY ARE YOU BACK?"

"Back? Look, I just came here to be with Sean… I go to university here. I just met him…"

"And that's a coincidence?" I hissed.

Lissa smiled brightly. "Well, you have to believe in fate, Max. Don't you believe in fate?"

"I believe in set-ups," I snarled. "I'm getting sick of the past coming back to me…"

"Really?" Lissa said. "'Cause… 'cause I kind of like this."

"Liss, you're about this close to getting killed," Fang supplied.

"I've had enough of this bullshit," I grumbled, still glaring at the devil redhead.

Two figures appeared out of thin air, one wispy and black-haired, the other tough and blond.

"Hey, Max," Keegan said. "What's… what is… have I missed something?"

She looked around, from me in my severe angry-pose, Fang sitting back trying not to look interested, and the three-pronged battle still going on between Tooey, Sean, and Imogen.

"I mean, I know I never knew the real you," the Red-Haired Wonder was saying to Fang. "But still, it was definitely a source of pride over the past five years, every time you were on the news, to turn to my friends and say 'I used to suck face with that guy'…"

"Red-Haired Wonder?" Niles guessed.

"That's her," I said. "Keegs, could you freeze her?"

"Fr—? Um, certainly."

Lissa instantly stopped talking, and stopped moving altogether. She was firmly trapped in the bonds of space-time.

"It is odd, isn't it?" Fang said. "That she's actually here? I mean, it might just be chance, right?"

"Meh, it could be," I submitted. "What about you, though, Fang? Pretending you don't remember her name? You keeping something from me?"

Fang shrugged. I turned to Keegan and Niles.

"Anything I can do for you two?" I said. "Not often you turn up without me calling."

"Well…" Keegan muttered. "I've found my parents. I told them we're friends. Will you… come and meet them?"

I turned uneasily to the fight still going on. "I think something should be done about that, though…"

"Done," Keegan said. "Please, Max, I need you."

The effect was instantaneous. Keegan, Niles, Fang and I were in a warm, sunny suburb. And Airy was there with us.

"Front door, everybody," Keegan said cheerfully.

And we walked right through, into a crazy-tidy living room.

"Hey, guys," Keegan said. "Well, this is my best friend Maximum Ride, her husband Fang and their daughter Airy. Max, Fang, Airy, my parents, Chrissie and Monte Beck."

Her two parents looked vastly different, but in some unexplainable way, Keegan was the spitting image of both of them.

"So," her father said uneasily. "You met her… at the Day and Night School. And she's been entangled in your life ever since?"

He blamed me, which I could understand. I bowed my head.

"I'm sorry, sir," I said. "But… well, your daughter is a valuable part of my team, and I love her. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's bailed me out of so many tough situations… You have a very remarkable daughter, Mr. Beck… and Mrs. Beck."

He waved a hand. "First names, please. Keegan does, so there really shouldn't be anyone who can't."

"Okay… Monte."

Airy fluttered over to Chrissie Beck. "Keegan is great!" she said happily.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We had dinner with the Becks. It was weirdly comfortable. Afterwards, we hung out in their living room, and… well, it was odd.

"So," I said quietly to the pair. "What happened to Niles' parents?"

"Screw 'em," Niles said.

"Uh-huh. And… do they… know?"

"No, they don't," Keegan said hurriedly. "I'm a bit nervous about letting them know. Once someone knows, I can't make them un-know, it's a rare limitation of mine."

"And…" I said quietly. "What about our Headmaster theory?"

"I don't know, Max," Keegan muttered. "Monte could very well be the guy. He might have a block up to make me definitively think that he's innocent. And if I crack through that shield, he might bring up another one instantly. And if I break through that one, he can put up another one."

"And that could go on forever," Niles said. "We don't really have a prayer against Headmaster until Keegan has him in a one-on-one combat situation, where the battle truly is as fast as thought. And he's not issuing any invitations."

I stared. "Wow."

"Yeah, it's highly paradoxical."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Every mutant on board was gathered around a table. Ella, still sporting an electric trident, was passing papers around to anyone.

"Ladies and gentlemutants, your mission," she said cheerfully. "Should you choose to accept it… and, what's with all the tension around here? Is everybody okay?"

Tooey was still slouching, her eyes burning. But her anger wasn't directed at Sean, but Angel.

"Something bothering you, friend?" Angel said.

"You said Sean and I were meant to be," she snapped back. "Why would you say that?"

"I said no such thing. I said you were into each other. It could have gone either way, I had no idea that he'd be so awful. I'm sorry, maybe I should have been looking."

That was about the most wonderful apology anyone had ever gotten out of Angel, but Tooey was beyond reason. She wasn't having it.

"So, 'oo's the stiff?" Falon asked, indicating the flash-frozen Lissa. "Old girlfriend, Fang?"

"Sort of," Fang admitted. "We had a few run-ins back at prep school that kind of scarred Max for life. Basically, any red-headed woman with the slightest connection to the flock turns Max into a raging, jealous Cro-Magnon woman."

"Cro min yon," Nudge corrected.

"What?" Fang said blankly.

"Cro-Magnon is pronounced 'cro min yon'. It's French."

"Oh, Little Miss 'Let's-go-to-the-Loovra' is a linguist now," Fang teased.

Nudge laughed. "I _did_ say that, didn't I?"

"Red 'air?" Falon said quietly, eyeing her own fresh-curled auburn. "Oh… izzat why Max 'ates me?"

"She doesn't hate you…" Gazzy said.

"And if I do, it's because you're a molester," I shot at her.

"Yeah, it's gotta be your hair," Fang told her. "It's the only explanation."

"Whatever. Ella, what's the mission?" I looked over the paper.

"Coordinates for a supposed Survivor encampment," Ella explained.

"Encampment? You mean besides the tower?"

"Yeah," she said. "We figure when it comes to collecting supplies, they have to hop off the teleporter for a day or two."

"All right, so it's a raid," I said. "Where's the place?"

"You're gonna love this—Yukon. All you gotta do is hop the border and you're right there."

"Sweet," I said.

"So, who's going?" Fang asked. "All of us?"

"No," I muttered. "Not a good idea…"

But could I leave anyone outside my field of vision for even a second? What if "they" got ahold of someone while we were away? But the risks of the entire double-flock going on a mission together were a lot greater.

"Okay, we split up," I said. "Fang with me, Airy with me. Tooey, you're coming. Get off your feet, bud. Immy, you're with me also. Gaz?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Max?"

"I'll have you stay at base. You really care about Falon?"

"Like my own life, Max."

"Good. Guard her with _that_, dude," I said. "Angel, you're staying to keep an eye on Jax and Sean. And Niggy on the raid with us."

Angel took her duties to heart. Sean and Jax were instantly locked under her gaze. And her mind powers, I suppose.

"Oh. And, uh, call Keegan and have her unfreeze Lissa, 'cause what's happening to her right now was a bit cruel of me. Maybe."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The encampment was not what we expected. We'd imagined a miniature army, ready to drain whatever fuel they needed for their Survivory deeds.

But that wasn't it. There was exactly one tent. Outside was Janssen in her outdoor gear, that being a hugely armored robot suit. Evidently, outside her pretty little tower, she required the best defenses.

She was flanked by a pair of hideous beasts that seemingly had nothing in common but the pitch-black feathers that covered them head to toe.

The eight of us who had gone on the raid all swept down onto the tent.

"Damn," Janssen rasped, her voice tinny through her big helmet. "You're _here_ too?"

I heard a sourceless clicking. That settled, then, the question of who else was here. "Kellie!" Janssen yelled. "Out of the tent, princess. It's time to deliver the final blow to your sister."

Kellie emerged from the tent. My heart gripped with terror… but at the same time it danced, joyous at the sight of the deadly foe I loved…

"Mommy… Mom… Marian?" Kellie said quietly.

"Yes, child?" Janssen cooed. At the sound of her voice, the clicks slowed.

"The man… that you spoke with," Kellie said. "You… you thought he was a friend. But now you think he's… going to do something wrong to us."

Janssen paused. "Correct," she said.

"But you do wrong things too," Kellie said. "Bad against bad, who do I support?"

"You support _me_, of course, Kellie."

"No," she said. "I support… the one who's not wrong. Sister?"

I smiled. "Yes, Kellie?"

Kellie staggered forward. Staggered, because the clicks were growing louder and faster, and apparently she could barely see straight anymore. "I… don't know who I am," she choked out. "I don't know how to do good things. Can you teach me, Max?"

There was a single, sharp _CRACK_ that echoed around the treetops and caused Kellie to lose her footing completely. And just like that, the clicks were over.

"Unholy Assassin," Kellie said. "That's… a bad name. I want to stay with you, Max."

There was a whirring sound as Janssen stomped forward in her robot suit. Kellie, curled up on the ground, turned to her.

"Mommy," she whispered. "Max can teach _you_ too."

"Well, I've no interest in learning from _her_," Janssen said, staring coldly at me. "Lao Hu?"

A sleepy head peered out of the tent. "Yes, Miss Janssen?" Lao Hu said.

I jumped in shock. That was unmistakably her, but her hair, previously only flecked with gray, was pure silver. And so were her eyes. Her eyeballs had been replaced by spheres of silver tucked behind her eyelids… at least that's what it looked like. More likely, she'd received some sort of mutation.

That's going around lately, you know.

"Lao Hu, scoot on back to the tower," Janssen said. "Find the whitecoats in the bottom level and tell them that Kellie #4 has failed miserably. Production on Kellie #5 is to begin immediately."

Kellie stared up at her. "So that's who I am?" she said. "I'm the _fourth_?"

Janssen stared at her in disgust. "Months of grooming down the drain," she sneered.

"But you love me," Kellie whimpered.

"I love _my_ Kellie. I thought that was you, but no. Perhaps your successor will be worthy."

Lao Hu was boarding some kind of moped, one without any wheels at all. "Wow," she said to Janssen. "You really don't have any soul at all, do you?"

"Did I ask your opinion?" Janssen said dangerously.

"No," Lao Hu said. "But I'm giving it. My opinion is that someone should punch you really fucking hard."

The device hummed, and began to hover. Lao Hu had herself a little hover-scooter! It zipped off into the distance.

Janssen rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm so damn tired. Lang, Shey, we're following her. Goodbye… failed, worthless Kellie."

Fang snapped to attention. "Lang and Shey? Where?" He had a beef with the siblings after their meaningless torture of him…

The two feathery mutants were climbing aboard Janssen's armored form. The winged, faceless one giggled shrilly, and the voice was unmistakable.

Fang went pale. "No…"

"That's right, Fangalicious," said the toothy one. "Like what we did with your DNA?"

Janssen's armor rocketed into the sky, taking the mutants with her.

"Damn you to hell," Fang rasped.

Kellie rolled onto her back and looked up at me. "Max," she sobbed.

"She didn't love you," I said.

Kellie's lip quivered. "Is anything real?"

She was crying. Her tears were acidic, evidenced when the pine needles under her head began to sizzle.

I held out a hand to her. "The way I love you is real. We're sisters."

She took my hand and I helped her up. As she stood up, I realized that she was changing. The migrating blue-black flecks on her skin had vanished, and her eyes had gone from red to an odd sort of hazel.

She spread feathered wings, green lined with brown. Now, apart from her musculature, she was not at all unlike a bird-kid.

"Wow," I said. "So, can you stay that way?"

"Yeah," she said. "As long as I never, ever stop thinking about it…"

I laughed. "Oh, Kellie. Just be _you_."

"I'm a freak, the way I look normally," she muttered.

"We're _all_ freaks," I said. "That's why I've been waiting for you to come to me."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

We were all tired from a long flight to the campsite. I suppose we should have been grateful that there hadn't been a fight, but you know, sometimes life itself is exhausting.

So we stole Janssen's tent. Why not? She left it there.

"All I want to do now is sleep," Max II muttered. "Like, sleep for the rest of my life. I hate Sean so much."

"I do too, love," Imogen said, hugging her. "I won't let ye feel bad like this anymore. Ye're not alone."

Everyone piled into the big tent except Fang, Airy, Kellie, and myself.

Airy fluttered up to Kellie's face and gave her a kiss. "Good night, Auntie Kellie," she said before popping into the tent with everyone else.

Kellie smiled at me. "Well, I guess you can all sleep, and, um, I'll stand guard."

"Oh, Kellie, you've have a rough day," I said. "You should sleep too."

"Oh, that's okay," Kellie said. "I don't sleep."

I paused. "You… _don't_ sleep? Everything has to sleep."

"Not me. I've never slept. I hear about it, though, how it takes everything that goes on in your head and gets it all un-jumbled… sounds nice." She smiled broadly, lost in thought.

"Have you ever _tried_?" Fang said quietly.

"No," Kellie said. "You think I should try? I just don't think it's possi… ble…" Kellie's eyes closed, and she was asleep before she hit the ground, and snoring before Fang and I managed to roll her into the tent.

"You poor, crazy creature," I said to the sprawled-out sleeping mutant. "I love you so much…" I turned to Fang. "I kind of get, now, the way you love Brigid… she must kind of stir something paternal in you, huh?"

Fang leaned against a tree. Since he wasn't moving, his skin was the same color as the tree was.

"Something eating at you, Fang?" I said.

"My DNA," he said. "My genetics are in those awful Liu siblings."

I winced. "Yeah, and they didn't come out so good, either."

Fang nodded. "I just can't believe that… that they'd do something like that! How much more evil can you BE? Those creeps—no one else can kill them! _They—are—mine_."

He punched the tree trunk three times, leaving his knuckles torn but not bleeding. "There a point you're trying to make, Fang?" I said dryly.

"Nothing is sacred, is it?" Fang said. "They screwed around with our DNA before we were born, and they're still doing it. I feel like by the age of eighteen I should have some control over what gets done to my blood."

"Gee, Fang. I didn't know your DNA was so important to you…"

"Well, sure," he said. "With what we are, what happens in our lives, how can you think DNA is anything short of sacred?"

I nodded. "I see where you're going."

"I mean, we need to revert this," Fang said. "I'm not going to let them use _my_ material for evil. The unique mix that's… _me_… that needs to be putting good out in the world."

He stared at me suddenly and took my hand. "Yeah," he said. "'Cause we're… we're good people, damn it."

I blinked, not making heads or tails out of any of this. "What are you saying, Fang?"

He squeezed one of my hands between both of his—which had to have been less comfortable for him than for me—and looked me straight in the eye. "I want to have another child, Max."

um…

uh…

um…

ah…

er…

I was aware of my mouth opening and closing, as well as my eyelids flickering in silence as Fang stared at me. Finally, I managed an intelligent "Whaaaaaa…?"

He opened his mouth to continue, but was suddenly backlit by powerful beams coming out of the forest.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Lights came at us from all directions, surrounding us in close quarters. Fang and I quickly forgot our conversation and pressed back-to-back, a single fighting unit.

The lights turned upward, revealing the gnarled faces of…

"Erasers Classic," said a spindly, short-haired woman. "Move in for the kill on my mark."

One of the Erasers growled and lurched forward, but the woman held out her arm.

"That wasn't my mark," she said calmly.

The Eraser dropped to the ground. His throat had been cut by her forearm.

"Max and Fang," she said. "Prepare yourselves to be taken in by the Survivors. I am Madeusa."

"Keep dreaming," I said. "Did you say it's Medusa?"

"Madeusa," she corrected. "Pay attention, won't you? It's _Madeusa_. Made it up myself."

"Oh, I love doing that. So, listen, Madeusa, you know that the Survivors are doomed, right?"

"Move in now," Madeusa said.

And the Erasers jumped in.

I whipped out a hand, five curved scimitars each nearly three feet long, striking an Eraser's chest, which immediately began to gush out blood.

"Tear up the tent," Madeusa called. "I'll identify the fodder."

The top of the tent popped up, and Iggy burst into the air with a flourish and a wide circle kick. "The fodder sleeps lightly," he said cheerfully. "Nudge!"

Nudge caught two Erasers under the chin with both fists, and the others rolled out after her.

I scanned the group with my mechanical eye. "Four dead," I called. "We're one against one. Let's go."

Madeusa leaned forward leisurely and smirked. "The tiny one is our greatest card. That's because she's also fodder. Kill her."

I leapt at Madeusa and squeezed her head. "No chance," I said. I tried getting into close quarters with her, but shrieked in shock when my leg brushed against her and I felt a searing pain.

She smiled. "Close combat is _my_ forte."

I took a step back. "Then I'll get you from afar."

I extended my arms on springs, wagging my fingers back and forth across her skin. The metal was immune to the odd pain that radiated off of her skin, and I managed to cut her face.

"Yo, Kellie!" I heard Iggy say. "Scream!"

I crouched underneath Madeusa's range of attack and covered my ears. I saw the ground vibrate beneath my feet as Kellie's keen assailed my ears, even through my steel palms.

The moment it ended, I popped up again to leap at Madeusa, but she was nowhere in sight. I did, though, manage to do a little twirl and pay off my momentum into the face of an Eraser, thrashing him hard enough to break his neck.

A few Erasers had been taken down by Kellie's keen and were having a lot of trouble getting up under the pounding of the flock.

"Hmm…" an Eraser growled. "The tiny one."

Airy fluttered up above the close-combat skirmish, looking confused at the Eraser's interested upward glare.

"I'll be damned if she's not absolutely delicious," the Eraser said, licking his chops. He jumped up to catch her, but Airy roundhoused him in the side of the face. Her strength was insufficient, so I flew in after her to deliver the deathblow.

"Airy," I said, gripping her hand.

"Uh-huh!" she said brightly.

I paused briefly to drive my fingers through the stomach of another Eraser, then looked back at Airy. "Never let yourself die, Airy," I said. "Promise me that? Never let them kill you. But never fly away from life. _Fight_."

She nodded. "I'll fight, Mommy."

I felt a pair of hands on my back, and then the sharp pain. I let go of Airy's hand and whirled to face off with Madeusa. I grabbed her throat with one hand and coiled the other one over my shoulder.

In response, she touched my face, and it was agonizing. I swooped forward to back her against a tree, and she gagged.

"Max," she said. "The Survivors will teach you what it means to be you. Don't you want that?"

"No thanks," I said. "I mean, look at you. How much free will do you have? Not a whole lot, am I right?"

Her hand was still on my face, and I couldn't stand it anymore. Her head still pressed against the tree, I punched her full on in the face. My hand went clear through her head, so… yeah, she probably died at that point.

I backed away, horrified at the awful gore all over my hand and the tree.

Behind me, I heard, "Wiped 'em all out, didn't we—OH MY GOD, FANG!"

I spun around instantly and ran over to the source of the voice. Fang was flat on his back, with a huge gash torn in his stomach. He looked down nonchalantly at his exposed, bloody organs.

"Fang!" I shrieked. "Oh my God, Fang, don't die on me now!"

"Not planning to," he assured me weakly.

My voice cracked. "Oh, Fang, we've gotta get you a doctor."

"Just gotta get back to base," he mumbled. "A hop, skip, and a jump away."

"Well, that's not how we're getting there," Nudge said with forced cheerfulness. "Let's… let's wrap you up. Keep the halves of you together… oh, man…"

I looked at Fang's split body as the others tended to it. I felt my face, and was pretty sure I'd have a scar in the shape of Madeusa's hand, whatever it was on her skin that hurt me like that… doesn't sound very attractive. If I was lucky, I'd get compared to Wilson the Volleyball.

I remembered the vision of the future. So obviously unreal, but I couldn't stop thinking about it… every one of us in the vision was covered in heinous scars. Was that unavoidable?

Maybe I still wasn't strong enough. Would I _ever_ be strong enough to combat "Them"?


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

We flew with difficulty, taking it in turns to support Fang, his stomach wrapped tightly.

"Hey, Max," he said from directly above me. "About what I said before?"

"About knocking me up again?"

"Max, come on. Another baby. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Uh… I don't know, Fang. I mean, that's a lot of stress on me, isn't it? Labor hurts."

"I've thought about that. It won't be as bad this time, we'll have the best doctors, and you're an adult now, who's given birth before… you can handle it."

I glared at him. "Oooh, rock-solid argument, genius. What about raising a frickin' baby? That's hard."

"Would you have it any other way?" Fang asked, gazing over at the masterfully gliding Airy.

"It was tough, doing that on my own, Fang," I muttered.

He took my hand. "You won't be alone, Max. I'll be here taking care of our baby."

I sighed. "Is this about how I ran away?"

"A bit," Fang admitted. "I… want that experience, Maximum. I want to bring life to this world."

"I… I'd have to think about it, okay? Don't hold me to more than that."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We dove to the secret location of the base and engaged a communicator. "It's the flock," I said. "We need a doctor right now!"

As we went down into our base, doctors swarmed him and began attending to him.

Iggy patted my shoulder. "So, Max, what's our plan now?"

"I dunno," I said. "Me, I'm just gonna stare at Fang's operation until it's done."

"Good plan," Iggy said. "But, um, how about actually living a bit? Fang's going to be absolutely fine."

"YO, KELLIE!" came a voice from a higher level. Angel swooped down on us, focusing tightly on Kellie, who crouched in fear.

"I knew you were coming," Angel said gently. "Good to have you."

"M… me?" Kellie muttered. "But… what about all the things I did to you?"

Angel waved a hand. "Hey, it's not me I'm concerned about. I think you need to atone for something else."

Angel presented a puppy to Kellie, who flinched away. "You remember the father of these puppies?" Angel whispered. "The one you killed."

Kellie's lip quivered. "I'm so sorry, Angel…"

"Shh… it's okay, I've prepared something… I think you'll understand…"

Angel held out the tiny dog to Kellie, who took it gingerly.

"Hold it like this," Angel directed. "There… what do you feel?"

"Um… a heart. I can feel the puppy's heart."

Angel nodded. "Yes, now, go like this…" Angel held Kellie's wrist and guided it to her own chest. "What do you feel now?"

"_My_ heart," Kellie whispered quietly. Tears lines her eyes. "Ohhhhhh, I get it! I get it!" Kellie began bawling into her hands, and Angel quickly took the puppy back.

"Okay," Angel said. "It's okay, I… you didn't have to react exactly that way, I think…"

Kellie looked up, wiping her eyes. "I'm a devil," she muttered.

Max II grinned. "I thought that once," she said. "It takes a remarkable sister to change your mind, doesn't it?"

Kellie smiled at me through her tears.

On the floor, Sean was coming up behind Max II. "Er, hi, Tooey."

"Don't touch me, vermin," she said coldly.

Jacqueline laughed. "Yeah, vermin!" she mocked.

Kellie looked up and blinked, surprised. "Who's that?" she said softly.

Max II laughed nastily. "You don't want to get involved with Sean, Kellie. He's pure evil."

"I am not," Sean growled. "Tooey, I've always cared about ye. That's all I've ever tried to say."

"Yeah, great way of showing it," Max II retorted. "Where's your bimbo now?"

"Lissa? She's around. I don't give a damn for her."

"Start, 'cause she's the only person here who's gonna look at you."

Sean's eyes narrowed. "So, that's the way it's gonna be?" He suddenly tugged Max II into am embrace, looking her deeply in the eye.

Max II scowled. "What is _that_?"

"Oh, that's a gun, Tooey."

Kellie dove on the two of them, breaking them apart and knocking Sean to the ground. Kellie uneasily handled the pistol she'd pried from between them.

"HEY!" Imogen yelled. "What happened here?"

Kellie fumbled. "Um… Sean had a gun."

"He was going to shoot me!" Max II shrieked. "Imogen, you've gotta believe me. It was him!"

Imogen looked at Kellie savagely. "Give me the gun," she said.

Kellie handed it off nervously. Imogen marched over to Sean and jammed the barrel into his chin.

"Ye're no longer me brother," she hissed.

"Ye won't shoot me, Imogen," Sean said, though he seemed to be horrified. "That's not who ye are."

Imogen withdrew the gun. "No," she said quietly. "Get out o' me sight. Ye're alone, Sean. Get yerself to the surface and fly off alone. Starve, for all I care. I'm done with ye."

She knocked Sean onto the elevator and hit the button. As he started to rise, Imogen stared at him. "I hate you, _brother_," she sneered.

No one watched as he rose. Imogen stared hard at the pistol she'd wrested from him.

"Unbelievable," she finally growled. She turned around, and I jumped at the realization that her aquamarine eyes were surrounded by a mask of coarse brown fur.

"I'm so sorry I didn't see that coming," Angel said, biting her nails. "I've been watching him since yesterday, and never… he must have decided to do it, like… _now_. Or something."

Max II shivered. "He almost shot me. Thank you, Kellie."

Kellie nodded, still shaken up. "No trouble… he's gone now."

I turned away from the scene. I really was going to watch Fang's operation now.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

I stared at the stitches on my stomach, all the way around. I set a crutch down on the ground and started hobbling out into the main area.

"Fang," one of my doctors said. "Maybe you should stay down for a while…"

"Die," I retorted simply.

In the main area, Imogen was at a table having a conversation with a few CSM scientists. Max was there too. She had her back to me, and didn't realize yet that I was coming.

"Our DNA studies are developing," one was explaining. "Here…"

He held up a cage containing a small brown creature, and Imogen leapt back in shock. "What the hell is that?"

The scientist cleared his throat. "This is a sample of _Myotis lucifigus_, known colloquially as the 'little brown bat'."

Imogen glared. "Oh, ye're one of _those_."

"A what now?" the man said blankly.

"Um, a complete geek?" Imogen offered.

"Very well. But you've got the DNA of one of _these_." He placed the bat on their table, and Imogen recoiled.

Max leaned in towards Imogen. "Immy, are you telling me you're afraid of bats? Do the Irish have no word for 'irony'?"

Imogen blinked at the bat, then looked up at Max. "Er, well… just shut up. What's the story, Geek?"

The geek looked over his notes, then turned back to Imogen. "Well, we've been investigating your problem," he said. "Now, in your original plan, you're made to be 98.2-percent human, and 1.8-percent of our friend _M. lucifugus_ here." He held up the bat cage helpfully, and Imogen winced again. "Now, however, the bat DNA seems to be steadily increasing in concentration, so you are now closer to 2.3-percent bat."

Imogen stared. "And that's a lot?"

"In terms of DNA, yes. It has already taken over some emotional and reasoning centers of your brain, and if it's allowed to increase any further, it won't be long before you're unrecognizable as human, physically and mentally."

"Hell. What do we do?"

The scientist held out a syringe. Max flinched away but, bizarrely, Imogen didn't seem bothered by the sight of a needle at all.

"This serum will maintain your DNA balance exactly as it is right now," the scientist explained. "Providing you take it every day until the remainder of your solution is complete."

"Yeah? What solution is that?"

"A manual modification to your DNA. Unfortunately, there's no way to return you to your original appearance regardless of the balance we use. However, the solution we've developed will instead turn you into a full human."

Imogen slapped the man.

"That's not even a notion," Imogen hissed. "I'll stick with the drugs."

She injected herself promptly, causing Max to shudder.

"You sure, Immy?" Max said. "That's a big commitment, taking that every day."

"It's a sight better than what _he_ said," Imogen said, staring at the slapped man, who seemed utterly bewildered.

"But—" he stammered. "It's dangerous to stay as you are…"

"I don't care. Tooey thinks that I'm sexy. And I don't care how many Ph.D.s ye have, I'll never value your opinion at tenth that of Tooey's. By the way, how many Ph.D.s do ye have?"

"Just one."

"Well, there ye go."

Max considered her. "You don't want to be human, huh?"

"I know who I am."

Max shook Imogen's hand. "I'm glad."

Imogen looked over Max's shoulder and smiled at me. "Fang's up!" she said.

Max turned and tugged me into a hug. "Oh, Fang! How are you feeling?"

"Super-stoned, babe," I said.

"Right on."

Imogen smiled and walked off, sensing we wanted to be together.

"So, Max, I've been thinking a lot," I said. "About our next child?"

"Oh, don't even put it that way, Fang," she said, wincing. "It's a pure hypothetical and, you know what? I don't even want to talk about this right now. I'd rather do something we can actually enjoy, you know what I'm saying?"

"Max," I said. "Is a brief moment of pain _really_ not worth the joy of starting up someone's lifetime?"

"Okay, Fang, no vaj, no opinion. But it's not the act of giving birth, Fang, it's the process of actually being a parent to a somebody. It's… it's…" She sighed. "Listen, babe, you know I'd blow up the planet for Airy. But… no. We're not having another child. I've made my decision. This discussion is over."

I slumped on my crutch.

"Besides," she said, trying to sound playful. "Can you even have sex with a big hole in your stomach?"

I went along, and showed her my stitches. "Almost sealed up," I told her. "Soon, they'll just be scars. They'll probably never go away entirely, but, that would take away the coolness of the entire day, wouldn't it?"

She laughed. "But why the crutch?"

"Oh, turns out they got my ankle at some point. Didn't really notice, what with having to carry my intestines in my hand and all."

Tooey suddenly dove down from above. "Wave of attackers coming, gang," she reported.

Imogen got to her feet. "What've we got? Erasers?"

"Nope," Tooey said. "As far as I can tell, we're dealing with a horde of Imogens."

"What?" Imogen repeated.

"Dozens and dozens of Imogens."

"Me," Imogen said, just to make sure.

"You. Perfect replicas, every one." Tooey held up a can of red spray-paint. "Close your mouth and eyes."

"Why do I have to close me—AAH!" Tooey began to douse Imogen head-to-toe in the red paint. "What are ye doin' to me?"

"Well," Tooey said, "we can't go out there and have someone mistake you for one of the enemies, can we? If we get this paint all over your wings, we'll be able to identify you."

"Oh," Imogen said. "Right on, love."

The two exchanged smiles and shot up towards the exit. Max spread her wings to follow, then nodded pointedly at me.

"Stay, babe," she said.

"Not on your life."

"I am _not_ going to watch you pop a stitch. Now stay there."

So, I didn't take to the air. Instead, after she took off, I crutched my way over to the elevator. I was going to help, stitches be damned.

Brigid caught up to me just as I started going up. "Fang, don't!" she said. "Max is right, you can't risk it!"

"I'm not hanging back on this, Brigid," I said. "Don't try and stop me."

"Oh, I'm gonna have to," Brigid said. "For your own sake, and the whole flock's." She poured out a bottle of some liquid all over both of her hands.

"What's that stuff, then?" I said.

"Chloroform," she replied, and cupped her hands over my face.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Ella Martinez rose from the underground base, brandishing her heavy trident. The huge amounts of perfect Imogen clones were swooping around the entrance. Ella prepared to fight, when a cold steel hand grabbed her by the bicep.

"Ella," Max growled. "I told you, you're not fighting!"

"Max, I can _do_ this!" Ella snapped. "I want to make your life easier! It's the only thing in _my_ life worth doing."

Max picked Ella up and flew her to a safe distance. "I'm not watching one of my sisters die," she insisted. "Stay _here_."

Max flew off into the aerial battle. Ella screeched in rage, stomping her feet and swinging the trident in as many directions as she could, even impaling it into a tree, which was thoroughly fried as if by lightning.

Ella banged her head against the crispy tree and plopped to the ground, sobbing.

"I just wanna be there for my sister," she muttered to herself. "I love her so much…"

"Everybody does."

Ella looked up. Standing over her was a woman in a lab suit that didn't entirely conceal her voluptuous figure.

"Um, hi," Ella said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Boyar," she said. "You care for the flock, don't you?"

Ella shrugged. "More than anything else. I mean, I have no life otherwise. I could never be a normal girl. I wish Max would let me do some good."

Dr. Boyar knelt down and leaned in to Ella. "And what do you think it would take, for you to be able to do some good?"

Ella thought about that. "Well… I'd have to be like her other siblings. Tooey and Kellie and Ari… she's never stopped them from participating."

"And what do they have that you don't?" Boyar whispered. "Or rather… what is it that _you_ have which they didn't."

Ella looked into Boyar's eye. "One hundred percent human DNA," she said simply. "Without that, I could be part of the flock. I could be a hero just like they are."

"Would you like me to do that for you?"

"You mean it?" Ella said. "You… you can do that for me?"

"Not me, personally. But you and I can go to Dr. ter Borcht. You can tell him what kind of form you'd like… perhaps a slender form with wings like your sister, or something else entirely. And in a matter of days, he'll be able to mutate you."

Ella turned to the battle, still raging on. She winced as she heard a hard impact on the ground, followed closely by Max screaming.

"I'll do it," Ella said. "I'll see the doctor… um… what did you say his name was?"

"ter Borcht."

"It sounds familiar… I know I've heard of him. He must be one of our guys! Is that it?"

Boyar smiled. "Yes. He's one of our guys."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I woke up with Brigid at my bedside. I stifled my thrash of surprise, quickly remembering the stitches in my stomach.

"Brigid," I said. "You knocked me out…?"

"I had to," Brigid said. "Anyone who loves you would have done the same."

I rolled out of bed, then let out a surprisingly high-pitched squeal. I had thought my broken ankle would have been fixed by now. Brigid quickly passed my crutch to me.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're mad at me," Brigid said.

"No. I understand."

"So you don't hate me?"

"Oh, Brigid," I said with a smile. "How could I hate you? I love you."

I looked through the glass wall of my hospital room. "Is the fight over?" I asked.

"Yes," Brigid said shakily.

"How is everyone?" I said.

Her hands shook. "Um… no one was killed. But…" A tear snuck into her eye. "Max was hurt very badly. Two of the clones pinned her down and another one… cracked her pelvis."

I stood upright as fast as my crutch would allow. "No," I said.

Brigid nodded. "It was awful… she screamed so much…"

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"I'll take you," Brigid said.

She walked me across the main plaza of the base.

"How long?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Um… about nine hours. Max has been in surgery for most of it."

Her tone was clear—there was more than she was admitting. "What _kind_ of surgery?"

Brigid pulled a huge sheet of paper out of her pocket. "When Max was being rushed to emergency, she was… surprisingly coherent. She led the doctors to this note from Dr. Brooks' research."

"Danny?" I said. I took the paper, and my feathers were instantly ruffled. Literally.

It showed a scientific diagram of a solid-steel pelvis. Attached to it were a composite of metals making up an entire pair of legs, down to flexible, hooked toes. Above it were illustrations of muscles, with guides to electrically enhance them.

I squeezed the paper. "And Max is having _these_ installed."

Brigid nodded.

"Where are the others?" I said.

"The flock?" Brigid said. "They left, all of them, on a new mission. They wanted to take advantage of you and Max being sedated, because they said it wasn't a mission that the two of you would approve of."

"Good," I said. "I mean, damn those punks, but… good. I need to have some words alone with Max."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I waited.

I waited until Max's mismatched eyes opened, the fake one slowly, the real one quickly.

"Hey, Fang," she said. She took off her sheets, revealing the flexible metal legs beneath her hospital gown. "What do you think?"

"You're unbelievable," I said coldly.

She looked surprised. "What?"

"You got your pelvis broken on purpose, didn't you?" I said. "So you could get the complete set of Danny's cybernetics."

"Fang, come on, you're being ridiculous."

I stood up. "You piss me off, Max."

"You too, babe. But what's on your mind in this instance?"

"Shut up!" I yelled. "I am serious here, Max. What the hell is wrong with you? You're not my Max anymore. You're nothing but some kind of creature who's obsessed with being stronger and stronger. That's not the Max I fell in love with. You're not her anymore. We're over, you and me."

I turned to leave. Max's claws dug into my shoulder, and I stopped to stare at her.

"You're breaking up with me?" she said in a hideous, raspy voice. "After an entire lifetime? Unbelievable. This 'Max you fell in love with', I don't know her, but she doesn't sound like my kind of girl. I'm obsessed with exactly one thing, and that's keeping the flock safe. Yeah, I let those demon-Imogens break my bones. Because I'm still not strong enough to keep us a family forever. But maybe now I'm a step closer."

I scoffed. "Get your claws off me."

She did, recoiling in shock. "You're… you're serious? You're done with me?"

"You're not my Max anymore."

"I am!" she said. "I… please, you can't leave me! I… I… yes, I've been angry, but… no, you can't do this. I am still me. I… I'm desperate, Fang, I need you, I always have…"

"Are you begging?" I sneered. "You don't do that."

She took my hands. "I am now. I'm begging you with all my heart, Fang. I'm not what you're saying I am. I'm not power-hungry, I'm just… I'm still so full of love, Fang. Fang, why won't you look at me?"

That last part was said so quietly and pitifully that I had to oblige. Max had never spoken that way before.

"Fang, look," she said, rolling up her sleeve all the way to her shoulder. "See, I'm not a robot. See my skin? I have the same DNA as I always have… And, and look…" In desperation, she fumbled with her own limbs, gently shredding her hospital gown. "See, Fang, I… I could still have your child, if… if that's what it'll take for you not to leave me."

Her tears started flowing out of her one eye.

"Max…" I began.

"Please," she said. "Don't do this to me. I'll do anything. You're my life."

I looked over her naked body, at her trying to tempt me. I sighed. "You had a good-looking body before you turned yourself into nothing but a hacked-up torso."

She looked down. "I know, and I didn't think about that… and I'm sorry. You've had a great body, better than mine, always, and now…"

"Max, it's okay," I said. "I just… I hadn't realized that you're the same Max in the heart. Now… do you really want to have a child, or is it just to appease me?"

"It doesn't matter," she muttered. "We're going to try. But I am wondering if it's in the cards, babe."

"How do you mean?"

Max shrugged. "Come on, we've never taken any precautions in our lives, and I've only been pregnant once. If we don't already have three hundred bird-babies running around, what exactly will 'trying again' entail?"

I was aware of her claw tugging at the zipper of my black jacket.

I chuckled. "Well, maybe we follow the pattern we did back in high school—making love nonstop."

She leaned in for a kiss. "Works for me, Fang," she said.


	19. Chapter 19

**I was in the store yesterday and I happened to see a copy of **_**Angel**_** on the shelves… and, you can't make this up, my knees buckled and my legs were wobbly the rest of the day. From looking at the cover, folks. So, definitely still not ready to read it! Certainly not until after I've finished this story. At which point, I'll probably never be writing any **_**Maximum Ride**_** fanfiction again.**

**Chapter 19**

You're on the air with Nudge. _In_ the air, actually, as we fly cross-country to a familiar area.

Iggy led our formation, and proved it by sporting a leathery pirate captain's hat. Max and Fang were absent; we'd taken advantage of their dual unconsciousness to perform a vital mission that they wouldn't approve of.

"You got the location, love?" Iggy called back to me.

I tweaked the Heartbeat's GPS. "We're very nearly there," I said. "I've got it tuned to the location of the first time I used it."

If you recall, the first time I used the Heartbeat was over the Valducci Family Compound, where three automatic weapons on the top of the building had, for no apparent reason, shot the crap out of us. The weapons that had caused the brutal scarring all up and down Falon's face.

That's why we went without Max. They wouldn't want us to go back there.

But we had a sneaking suspicion that the Valducci family, whoever they were, truly did have a reason for shooting at flying people. When we looked it up, we discovered that Grease, Gum, and Mud, former Jewel goons and current Survivors goons, were Valduccis. We were going to find out just how deep their connection ran.

"We're directly above," I reported. "Tooey, deploy the Cell."

I snapped the Heartbeat shut, adjusting its settings for defense. Tooey was toting the Cell, set at its one-cubic-foot point, and dropped it with marvelous accuracy directly above the compound.

As the Cell dropped, it expanded to its normal size: an even forty feet in every direction. Then its interior solidified: hundreds upon hundreds of tons of living rock.

And when the Living Cell hit the compound roof, the concrete collapsed. Once in the exposed and exploded hallways, the Cell formed itself into a liquid, seeping into a crack in the wall to escape from the fast-approaching compound guards and to back us up as the rest of us stormed in.

A group of men lined up and aimed their series of automatic weapons at us. With so many of them, we had no chance of surviving.

Well, maybe a little bit of a chance.

"Kellie," Iggy said calmly.

As all of us rolled up on the ground and covered our eyes and ears, Kellie screeched.

When we stood up, the entire line of guards was flat on their backs, unconscious or dead, ears bleeding.

The ten of us hopped over the pile of bodies.

"Everybody stay together," Iggy called. "We need teamwork if we're gonna get to the heart of this place and find out who the Valducci family is."

"You sure you know what you're doing, pal?" Tooey asked.

"Who's wearing the awesome pirate hat?" Iggy said, pointing to it. "I know precisely what I'm doing."

Gazzy held Falon's hand and swung her around. "Anything you want to say before we enter the battle, love?" Gaz said quietly.

"You matter more to me than life," Falon replied.

"I feel the same," Gazzy said. "Let's go, baby."

The two of them dove down a hallway, and the rest of us followed. Airy perched on my shoulder, and I patted her on the head.

"How are you feeling, Airy?" I said.

"I hope Daddy isn't mad about Mommy's new legs," she said with a pout. "They're nice."

"Yeah, they are," I agreed. "But I wish I knew what your mom was thinking. She doesn't need to replace her entire body…"

"BATTLE!" I heard Kellie yell operatically.

We split off in two directions, pressed against the walls while the guards charged at us.

"All right, we're facing some heavy gunfire here," Iggy yelled out. "Anybody have any regrets they'd like to voice? Tooey?"

"Well, I regret that I slept with Sean," she said.

"No shit. Imogen?"

Imogen flexed her fingers. "Nah. I'm good. Once I tear inta these guys, me only regret will be if I don't do some damage while I'm goin' down."

"And… how about you, Nudge?"

"I don't regret a thing," I said. "Hang on…"

I found my ear pressed against the wall, and I tapped on it. There was a _huge_ room on the other side. I started fiddling with the Heartbeat, trying to find an elemental combination that would blow a neat hole in the wall.

"There it is," I muttered as gunshots rang out. I banged the Heartbeat against the wall, which slowly dissolved.

Jax was next to me, and peered into the expansive next room. "Whoa," she said. "'Ow'd you do dat?"

I tapped the Heartbeat. "Alchemy," I said.

"Wha'? Dat's no' a real fing. I fink you mean chemis'ry…"

"Shut up, it's alchemy. Get in here."

I dove in, and a handful of others followed me, including Iggy, while the others fended off the guards in the main hallway, keeping them from following us.

The room was spacious, and I irrationally thought for a moment that it was actually bigger than the compound itself. It was filled with ancient relics from forgotten times—Roman, Egyptian, Japanese, Nordic… and in the center was a sleek, somewhat out-of-date laptop.

"Whoa," Jax commented. "Look at all dese treasures…"

"What kind?" Iggy said eagerly. "Gold? Gems?"

"Relics," Jax reliped, savoring the taste of the word.

"Ooh, I wouldn't mind an art collection of my own," Iggy said thoughtfully.

I stared at the two of them. "Swiper no swiping," I said dryly.

Jax blinked briefly, still drinking in the sight of the treasure room, then shook her head, finally taking in what I'd said. "Um… shu' up. I fort dese were bad guys, let's steal deir stuff."

I put my hand on the laptop, hacking into the data of the compound.

"Hmm," I muttered. "Iggy, check this out."

He touched his palm to the screen. "What's this, blueprints?" he said. "Excellent!"

I smiled at him. "What's so excellent, Ig?"

"I've got a plan," he replied. "Here, Nudge, you take the pirate hat. I'll be right back."

He plopped the hat onto my head and flew off.

"Sweetie?" I said, alarmed. Then I shrugged it off. "Iggy knows what he's doing," I said to myself. I started screwing with the computer some more.

"'Ow do you do dat?" Jax wondered.

"Not by way of trying, if that's what you mean," I said with a smirk. "Psychometric memory, magnetics, and complete wi-fi compatibility."

"Ooh, this fing 'as wi-fi?" Jax said, looking at it carefully.

"Nope, _I'm_ wi-fi," I replied.

"Impressive," said a gurgly male voice.

I turned around to see a gangly teenager with a dried-up Afro.

"Gum, right?" I said.

"Gum Valducci," he said. "I see you've hacked into my father's network."

"Your father?" I said. I tugged out a pistol; except for Airy, all of us were toting one. I aimed it at Gum, and said, "Do explain."

"Put the gun down," Gum said. "Dad is what they call a 'Nine'. His guys wanna use your flock to take over the world, but Dad has other motives. He's going to eradicate all of human life. Cool, huh?"

"Human life?" I hissed. "Like Jewel did?"

"No, one better. _You_ aren't going to die. He's sticking with pureblood humans."

Jax looked him up and down. "Wha' are you, den?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm human."

"So, you're going to be 'eradicated' too?"

"Well, not _me_," Gum said, rolling his eyes. "Dad wouldn't eradicate _me_." He scratched his chin. "So, Nudge, you look like a prize. When the world ends, wanna hook up?"

"I'm sorry?" I hissed.

"You and me. We should hook up. I'm a Valducci prince, after all, and you're one of the queens of the world. We'll get married, and you'll be a Valducci too. There aren't many of us left! Let's we, we have a Glue, Sand, Mud, Grease, and Gum… oh, I know, you can be Blood. That was my grandmother's name. Take care of it, won't you?" He made kissy gestures at me.

I scowled. "Where's your grandmother now?"

"Oh, she died."

"Great. You can tell her about our engagement in person."

I roundhouse kicked him through the hole that led to the hallway. He was caught straight in the middle of the gunfire between the flock and his own family's guards, and was quickly shot to pieces.

Not as satisfying as me killing him directly, but the end result was the same: dead Gum.

"Wha' an idiot," Jax said.

"Just like his brother and uncle," I said. "I get the feeling that his death isn't going to affect his father much… when somebody says they're going to eradicate _all_ human life, I'm pretty sure they mean it."

"But no' us?" Jax said.

"That's what it sounded like," I muttered. "Like anyone who wasn't entirely human would be spared… I don't know, Gum's a moron, he might have it wrong."

Then, there was a massive explosion. A fireball coming from the direction that Iggy had gone…

"Oh my God!" I shrieked. "Iggy!"

There he was, vertically oriented and upside down, riding forward on the heat blast.

"WOO-HOO!" he yelled, dropping down next to me, just out of the blast's reach.

"What's up?" he said.

I gaped. "_Never_ do that again!" I said. "What was that for?"

"Oh, you know," he said. "This whole raid was just a means to the end of blowing something up, just like everything else in life." He laughed. "Kidding, kind of. Anyway, the compound is a wreck, and… hmm, did you happen to bring down a Valducci?"

I was surprised. "Yeah, how can you tell?"

"I dunno. Anyway, I've figured out everything I need to know. Let's get back together."

In the hallway, the gunfire had died down, as all of the dudes were running away. The flock gathered together, including the Cell, seeping out of a busted air vent and gathering into its "paperweight" incarnation.

"That scumbag Gum filled me in," I told everybody. "Those dumb-ass henchboys don't have a lot to do with this. The Valducci we want is named Sand. He's, um… a 'Nine', and he seems to have the typical agenda."

"Killing everything?" Gazzy said.

"Bingo. In this case, everyone who's not a 100-percent human, which may or may not include hara-kiri on Sand's part. It certainly meant he was out to destroy his own sons."

"So, 'e's a li'l bit evil," Falon said cheerfully.

"Let's blow this dump," Iggy said. "Well, I already did that. Let's just _leave_, then."

"What, the raid's over?" Tooey demanded.

Iggy took the pirate hat off my head and plunked it onto his own. "Who's wearing the funky captain hat?" he said. "Raid is over."


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay, I can kind of get why, despite all of my efforts to establish a really great dynamic between the flock and Brigid, you still hate her. It sucks, but I get it. Now, while I can comprehend your feelings on Brigid, I'd like to say that there's really no reason for you to hate Lissa. As a plot device, sure, she's infuriating, but I think that as a human being, she's totally innocent! No more hating on her.**

**Chapter 20**

The five-star sex aside, the relationship felt strained.

Did Fang hate me? He'd been so angry, thinking I'd changed… but I don't think I have. I did it to beat back the false future that Ari had shown me.

Was my giving in really the only thing keeping him with me? It could very well be. And what if he thought that I was lying, that I was pretending to want a child only to keep him from leaving? Because I'm not…

Seriously, I'm not! Sure, it made me uncomfortable, but I think of all the great moments with tiny baby Airy and how Fang missed them, and I only had Al and Felicia to share them with… wouldn't sharing the experience with everybody, and especially Fang, be so much better? …Wouldn't it?

It would! Why the frickety-frack don't you believe me? Yeah, I'm talking to the readers. All two of you.

Fact is, Fang really did scare the hell out of me, when he told me flat-out that we were over. I don't know if I'll ever get over that sinking feeling I had, or if he'll ever love me in the same way again…

I was tugged out of my thoughts by the sight of a painfully familiar ginger head.

"Whoa!" I said, uncoiling an arm. "What are you STILL doing here?"

Lissa shrugged. "I work here."

"You what?" I said. "How?"

"Um… well, they hired me," she muttered.

"Cripes, I thought they had a screening system," I muttered. "They're supposed to be protecting us."

Lissa crossed her arms and glared at me angrily. "What's your problem?" she said. "What did I ever _do_?"

"Among other things, Sean."

"Granted. I meant before that, Max. Why have you always hated me?"

"Guess," I said sourly.

"What, prep school?" she demanded. "Because I was a normal and honest human? Because I kissed Fang—who, by the way, I thought was Nick Walker, the brother of Maxine Walker. At least I didn't lie about who I was. That was all you guys."

"Oh, stuff it, you whore-case," I muttered.

"Hey!" she said. "Don't you have _any_ idea what you mean to me? A lot more than you mean to the world, that's for sure."

"I applaud your narcissism."

"I am not a narcissist! Look, the six of you show up at this boring-ass finishing school run by the most evil creature God has ever put on this Earth… and you're all so beautiful and interesting, and you, Max, so obviously the head of the family, the image of toughness—I mean, everybody could tell that, even though the world didn't know you then."

She waited for me to respond. I didn't.

"You were so cool, Max. And you didn't even spare me a sideways glance. Then one kiss with Fang you despise me? Not cool, Ride. You have any idea how long I've wanted to join you?"

"Yeah? Kindly explain, then, why you went to bed with Sean when he was supposed to be dating my sister Tooey?"

Lissa sighed, fidgeting. "A very severe and very slutty error in judgment on my part."

"No kidding, ho-bag."

"I'm really sorry," Lissa said.

I tapped my claws against my arm impatiently. "You ought to know, Lissa, that it's very hard to make me think I'm not right."

"I know."

"You work here?"

"Uh-huh."

"What do you do?"

"Oh, I'm essentially an intern."

"Well. As long as you're working in _my_ CSM branch, I fully intend to make your life hell. Just so you know."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Max."

"All right. Get me a cup of coffee, slut-bucket."

"Slut-bucket?"

"It seemed the logical extension of 'whore-case' and 'ho-bag'. Where's that coffee?"

"On my way."

Lissa skedaddled. I noticed, at that moment, the flock lowering in the elevator. Oh, yes, their secret mission. Time for spankings.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Angel said as they reached the ground. "Max, come on. You really think Fang could hate you because you got new legs?"

"What?" I said.

"Sure, you're a total weirdo for orchestrating that," Angel acknowledged. "But Fang loves you for what's in you, Max, and even when he thought that that 'you' had changed, he didn't hate you, he was just…"

"Ticked?" Fang supplied.

I jumped. Fang was standing right next to me, with his trademark undetectability.

"Yeah," Angel said. "And Fang, you're wrong too. Max wants to be strong for us, same as she always has. And if you could hear her mind, knowing how much she wants a baby… the two of you are in the exact same mindset, there's no need to be so worried."

Fang wrapped an arm around me. "Good kid, Angel. Way to address our insecurities."

"Yeah," I said. "You've got the matchmaking thing covered."

"Yeah, two out of three's not bad," Tooey said.

"Will you shut up about Sean?" Angel said.

"No," Tooey said.

"So, Max," Fang said. "Have you written your new set of vows yet?"

"Shit, no. Well, here's an anecdote. Fang kicks major ass, scares the hell out of me, and kisses a girl nicely. Right, Lissa?"

Lissa stopped in her tracks, holding onto my coffee. "Um… I don't want to say the wrong thing."

"Shut up and give me my coffee."

"Right away, Max."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The black-cloaked image of Headmaster spread, holographically, throughout the Survivors' tower.

"_Attention, all Survivors,_" Headmaster said. "_Our tower has been disabled and is under attack from a platoon of pureblood humans we have identified as bearing the name 'Two Hundreds'. All able-bodied Survivors are required to exit the front door and defend your base of operations._"

Everyone watching the hologram heard Marian Janssen's voice, quietly saying "Not me, right?"

"_Of course not_," Headmaster replied. The hologram flickered off.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"War is hell, isn't it, Shey?" Lang said.

"Yes, it is," Shey said. "Gets the blood pumping, though, don't get me wrong."

"Oh, I agree," Lang said. "I could watch war all day."

"But it's hell," Shey conceded.

"Yes, yes it is," Lang said.

They clinked their teacups together and took sips, and from their safe perch atop the Survivors' tower, they watched the war rage below.

"War shouldn't exist," Shey said. "It's just not natural."

"You think it'll ever come to an end?" Lang asked.

"Oh, I hope so."

"Do you think _we_ could do that?" Lang said, smirking broadly.

Shey turned to look at him. "We?"

"We. You and me, Shey. Put an end to war."

"Yeah?" Shey said. "You think?"

"We've got the _je ne sais quoi_," Lang said. "I'm tellin' you, big sister, you and me, the sole protectors of a peaceful world? We could have that in the bag."

"Yes, we could," Shey said, smiling. "I like the way you think, little brother. Let's you and me usher in this little era of peace."

"Yes, let's."

The siblings clinked their teacups together once again, with grins smug and broad.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jewel waited in his room until he was sure that nobody would catch him wandering the halls when he was supposed to be fighting. Finally, he entered the quarters of a specific group, but was surprised to find one of its members still there.

"Whoa, hi Grease," Jewel said. He decided to skip the part where the two would question each others' motives. "Say, do you know where your uncle keeps those really great cigars?"

"Yeah," Grease said, fishing them out. "Here, take the box."

"Thanks, fella," Jewel said. "Light 'em up."

He lit two of the cigars and passed one to Grease. They both inhaled deeply before considering each other.

"So, why the cigars?" Grease asked. "Do they fuel your power cells, or what?"

"Don't be an idiot, I'm electric," Jewel said. "The smokes just calm me down, help me think straight. Grease, tell me about your father."

"You mean Sand?"

"Yeah. Mud told me about him, but I'm still not clear on what his deal is."

Grease smiled. "My dad is like the greatest double-crossing scoundrel you'll ever meet in your life. His chosen organization are gonna crush the Survivors, then me and Gum and Uncle Mud and my mom and dad are gonna wipe out _everything_." He nodded to Jewel. "Not you, of course, or your old lady. It's only for killing humans."

"What does that make you?" Jewel said.

"Human. But come on, my dad's not stupid. He's not gonna kill himself or his family. Just, you know… the bad people."

"Uh-huh," Jewel said. "So, what exactly is this organization?"

"You know, I've got a pamphlet."

Grease reached into his compartment and pulled out a large laminated pamphlet. "Here we go," he said. "Name and address of the place. Thinking about taking a dive from the Survivors now that you know they're doomed, ah?"

Jewel looked over the pamphlet. There was the place's name, and its precise location in the world. "You could say that," Jewel said. "Say, Grease, did you know that I've catalogued over three hundred different ways to instantly and flawlessly kill somebody?"

"Really? That's bitchin'."

"Yeah," Jewel said. "I'm pretty great. Here's one of my methods right here."

Jewel held out his thumb and forefinger and pressed them to Grease's heart. They surged with electricity, and Grease's entire body sizzled. He looked indignant for a moment, then his heart stopped and he crumbled to the ground.

"Yeah, I _am_ pretty great," Jewel repeated. "Huh." He looked at his hands. "Interesting. That was a very conceited thing to say. How very… _me_. Oh, I enjoy my old conceit very much, the kind of feelings I have that would inspire me to whip out my blades and slash indiscriminately at every damn thing that came into my face. Heh heh… heh heh…" Jewel broke out into riotous laughter. "Oh, yeah! Depression over! I'm free from the depths of worthlessness, and all it took…" He pressed his hand to Grease's still chest. "All it took was to feel a human's death right beneath my hands. It's been so long…"

Jewel stretched, experimentally waving his marble blades around. "Feels so good," he said. "I killed a man, and…" In his excitement, Jewel fumbled with the pamphlet Grease had given him. "And these people are next. I'm gonna find out what they're gonna do… and then I'm not gonna let them, because I'm gonna do it! I'm going to kill every human, and leave the mutants alive because I promised, and the mutants will all be so grateful that I rid them of the humans that I'll get what I want."

He chuckled, remembering a little rhyme he'd recited once. "Jewel will rewel the wewerld," he muttered. "Oh, yeah, I am _so_ back. YOU HEAR THAT, WORLD? JEWEL IS BACK! NOW YOU'RE GONNA DIE! HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA… oh, yes. I'm through cowering. Depression over. Jewel is back. Depression over. Jewel is back. Jewel is back… there's no flock, no Survivors, no 'Them', only Jewel. Only Jewel."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Fang prepared a karate chop right along my eye level. He had three-inch height advantage, so the blow came in force, but I retaliated with a controlled jab from my blunted fingers, which got him in the sternum.

He jumped back, landing on his feet in the snow. He scooped up a handful of it and jammed it into my face.

"Dirty fighting," I accused.

"I learned from the best," he countered.

His foot curved straight up from the ground to my chin, and I retaliated by hitting my knuckles against his brow. If Fang was hurt, he didn't show it, as he launched his entire body towards me, using his weight and muscle to knock me straight to the ground.

Fact is, when it came to limbs, them being cyber and all, I could throw Fang clean off of me. And I did, flipping him into the snow above my head. I got into push-up position, my face directly above his.

"Hey, babe," I said.

"Sup?" he replied.

I relaxed my arms, lowering myself straight onto his face for a tender kiss.

"Oh, babe," he muttered. "Come on, I'm already at your mercy."

"Like it matters," I said. "I want you right here in the snow."

"As it happens, we're surrounded," Fang replied dryly.

I stood up, looking at the flock, each one engaged in their own sparring matches. As Fang pulled himself to his feet, he whispered, "I love you. Damn me if I ever forgot it."

"And to hell with me if I doubted it," I agreed.

From the snow across our little practice field, Dr. Martinez rose up out of the ground.

"Hey, everyone," she said.

"Wassup, Mom?" I said.

"Oh, Max, look at you," she said. "So beautiful."

I looked down at my legs. I was dressed for the cold, but without any shoes or gloves, so my metal digits were perfectly exposed. "I'm thinking of regrowing some skin," I said. "Hide it a bit."

"I don't want you to do that," Mom said, smiling. "You're lovely in any… configuration."

I laughed. "So, what brings you up here?"

"Nothing much… has anyone seen Ella these past few days?"

I wringed my hands. "Well, I told her not to fight, right before I got all 'borg-legged. Maybe she's been moping around? I hated to hurt her feelings like that… We'll find her, Mom. I hope."

At the sound of the word "Mom", Kellie bobbed up from her little duel and rushed over to Dr. Martinez, inspecting her like an animal.

"Are you my mother?" Kellie asked.

"Well, I'm pretty much everybody's mother," Mom said, smiling. "You have as much of my DNA as if I had truly given birth to you… but more importantly, you're part of the flock, and the flock are all my children."

Kellie smiled.

An airplane passed a small distance overhead, and something dropped out of its hatch, immediately opening a parachute.

I turned to Mom. "Somebody order an air-drop?"

Mom frowned. "As far as I know, we _never_ get supplies that way."

I looked up at it, zooming in slightly. "Holy shit, it's a person!" I said. "Are the bad guys dropping somebody on us?"

"Let's check," Fang said. We both flew upwards, meeting up with the figure about a hundred feet up.

"Holy God, it's Ella!" I said.

Ella hacked and coughed. She didn't have the strength to hold onto her parachute, she was only dangling.

"She's sick!" I gasped. "She's incredibly sick! We gotta get her down!"

I hacked off the cables of the parachute, and I dropped down to the ground with her, Fang following me.

"Ella?" Nudge said. "Is that Ella? Oh my—ouch!"

Nudge pulled away her hand, which was covered in a number of thin gashes. "What…?"

Then I noticed Ella's skin. It was gray, and covered in tiny, pointed scales. That's what had cut Nudge.

She flipped over and vomited all over the ground. It smelled foul, but I didn't move from her side.

"Ella?" I whispered.

She hacked up a bit more, then looked up at me and spoke in a whisper. "I've been swindled, Max," she rasped. "They told me I could be just like you. I saw them… they could have done it if they wanted to. But they set me up to die."

"No," I said.

She nodded. "I'm dying."

She began to vomit some more, but her stomach must have been empty, because all that she hacked up was air. Her stomach convulsed, and her skin chipped against my arms.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Ella muttered.

Mom dropped to her knees, her eyes and mouth wide open, silent in shock.

With Ella on her side, I noticed protrusions on her back. Wings, bony and stiff, but miniscule, probably wouldn't even lift a flying fish. That's what they seemed to come from.

"Oh, Ella," I said, touching the wings.

She nodded. "I like flying fish," she said. "And sharks…" She indicated her serrated skin. "They screwed it all up, they did it wrong. I can't metabolize anything. Not food, or water, or air…"

She hacked again, this time a torrent of thick, dark blood. She did this for several minutes, with only little spaces in between each bout, during which she only had time to let in a rattling breath.

"Who did this?" I said. "Who do I have to kill to avenge you?"

She breathed in, and choked out, "ter Borcht." She turned her head. "Mom, hold me."

Mom reached out her hand to Ella, who tried to reach back, when her heart stopped beating. She died in my arms before she could even touch our mother's hand.

I started weeping. I felt awful enough to cough up blood myself.

Fang and I leaned together, supporting each other mutually. "Did she say 'ter Borcht'?" Fang managed to say.

"Yeah," I said. "I guess he's back in the evilness game. And his first move was to make this really, really, REALLY personal."

I clutched Ella's body tightly. I was exploding with sadness and anger, which in my life are essentially the same emotion.


	23. Chapter 23

**Late at night, so maybe a lot of typos between here and chapter 27… I'll get them later.**

**Chapter 23**

Nudge manipulated the earth, forming a grave for Ella. Ella's body was wrapped up tightly, hiding her horrid skin and little wing nubs.

"I hate this," Nudge muttered. Iggy rubbed her shoulders.

Jeb looked at me from the other side of the pit. "Max?" he said quietly.

I didn't know what he meant, and I turned to Mom.

Of course… Mom was still drowning in her own tears. So Jeb wanted _me_ to speak about Ella. The bastard.

"I didn't think I'd have to bury another sibling," I said. "I never imagined that you'd die exactly like Ari."

I paused for a moment. "I've got nothing else to say. I'm leaving. I love you, Ella." I sighed. "Somebody fill in the hole."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I flew up to the top of a tree, hating life. I didn't deserve this. None of the horrid things in my life were my fault. Not one.

If I'd thought about it, I'd probably realize that wasn't true, but I was so furious, I wasn't ready to blame myself for anything.

The rest of the flock joined me in the treetops. I mentally counted them, but dismissed whatever number I'd come up with, deciding it didn't matter without Ella. Ella wasn't a member of the flock, and that's why she'd died. She wanted to be part of the flock and asked the wrong guy.

I noticed Angel across from me. She was staring at her winged teddy bear.

"Angel," I said.

She looked up at me.

"I didn't know you still had Celeste."

She shrugged. "I've held onto her… _it_. Just felt like whipping it out again. Airy, do you want her?"

Airy looked over the bear. "Thank you," she said. Airy took Celeste and started snuggling her.

"Thanks, Angel," I said. "I bet Airy needed the comfort. How are you feeling?"

Angel shrugged. "Pubescent."

I sort-of-laughed. Genuine laughter doesn't really come right after a funeral. "Well, at least you're aware of that."

Kellie was stroking one of Akila's puppies. "Why isn't anybody safe?" she asked.

"I don't know, Kellie," I said. "We'll put an end to this."

Fang was dispassionately starting up a blog post. He'd said he might; that he'd have people post condolences about Ella's awful death…

"Huh," Fang said. "That's odd… my mother sent me a video message. She never does that."

He opened it, and we all heard: "Hey, mate. How've ye been?"

Everyone in the flock tensed up before zooming over to Fang's branch. On the screen was a video clip of Sean, in Isobel Rush's apartment.

"Friendly reminder that I know where yer mother lives," Sean said. "Not t' worry, she's fine… well, I assume. But that could change quickly if ye don't comply with some… requests that I have."

Tooey clenched her fist. "That scumbag—"

"Shh," Fang said sharply.

"Me demands are threefold," Sean said, holding up three fingers. "One: I want amnesty, now and forever. That means that, regardless of what I choose to do with me own life, I'm going t' be immune to the flock and yer particular brand o' justice. Aye? Two: I want all the money in the flock's bank account wired directly t' me own, which I've just had opened. And three: I want me true love back, and that's Tooey."

I glanced at Tooey, who was shaking so hard I feared she'd fall off the branch. When I turned back to Sean's message, he had relaxed his pose and was leaning in closer to the camera.

"Ye know ye've got t' do it, me love," he said gently. "If not for Fang and his dear mother, do it for yerself, aye? 'Cause nobody else but me is ever gonna want t' kiss ye." He blew a kiss before leaning back.

"Tell me if ye'll play or not, Fang," Sean said. "Or kiss yer mother goodbye."

The message ended.

"He's gone mad," Imogen said.

"No," Fang said. "He's not crazy, he's fifteen and he thinks that he knows how to get what he wants. I know what that's like."

"YOU FILTHY GREASEBALL!" Tooey screeched at the blank computer screen. "I HATE YOU!"

I reached out a hand and slammed Fang's laptop shut. "Damn him to hell," I said. "I do _not_ have the energy for his piddly-diddly-ass schemes. I just put my little sister in the freakin' dirt."

I glided down to the ground. Airy joined me. "Mommy?" she said quietly.

"Hi, baby," I said.

Fang dropped down next to us. "Somebody's got to deal with Sean," he said.

"Well, not me," I said. "I've got our whole future to worry about."

"I'm going," Fang said. "'Cause this is seriously personal, Sean going bad."

"I know, you want to protect your mother, babe, and that's so sweet, so go ahead."

"That's not it at all," Fang said. "With Sean gone, who's going to harmonize with me now?"

Iggy looked at him pitifully. "I can sing with you, bro," he said.

Fang stared at Iggy contemplatively. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams, now."

Iggy and Fang sang together: "_I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone._"

"Okay, you're good," Fang said. "Let's go grind Sean to pieces."

"Yes, let's," Iggy said.

"Oh, you can bet your balls I'm there," Tooey growled.

Imogen looked over at me. "Max?"

"I can't," I said. "I'm…" I didn't finish. It was pretty clear. A depression had me in its fists.

"I'll stay here with you, Mommy," Airy said.

"Me too," Angel said. "Not gonna leave Max without her tiny people."

"Exactly," I said, smiling. "Come here, tiny people. That's you, Gazzy, and… keep the twins here too, what the heck."

Gazzy, Falon, and Jax came over to me.

"Sticking wiv you, Max," Jax told me. "Never liked Sean finking 'e was better dan us… didn' like Immy doing it eiver, but I fink she, at least, knows 'oose upbringing gets shit done." She wagged her eyebrows at me, which felt oddly appropriate.

"Yes," Imogen said. "Yes, I do. And I can't tell ye how much I regret ever having called Sean me brother."

"Okay," Fang said. "Max stays with her tiny people, and the rest of us go after Sean. If you're cool with that, babe."

"Yeah," I said. "Just come home so we can make another baby, okay?"

"You bet."


	24. Chapter 24

**Uber-short chapter here, merely for the purpose of establishing some… establishments, I guess.**

**Chapter 24**

Janssen stepped backwards into her robot suit, which fitted itself to her nervous system and kept her perfectly encased. Thus protected, she stepped out into the halls of the tower with her companion.

"Hey, Marian," said Shey, leaning against the wall, blocking her path. "Nice night to be accosted, isn't it?"

"I'm not—" Janssen began, before realizing that Lang had his leg stretched across the other end of the hallway.

"Not what? Not being accosted? Sure you are," Lang said. "So, I've noticed we're—well, hey, is that Kellie?"

Janssen tickled her companion under the chin. "Yes, yes she is."

"How'd that happen?" Lang asked.

"This is Kellie version five," Janssen said. "This is the one that's actually going to work. I have her love and I have her undying obedience."

The new Kellie stood at attention, to the side and one step back from Janssen.

"Interesting," Lang said. "Anyhow, we were wondering why the tower isn't teleporting anymore."

"We're making a stop in Death Valley," Janssen said. "I have certain personal matters to attend to here. Death Valley holds… well, great significance to my life, if you follow that sort of thing."

"Oh, we totally do," Shey replied. "It's also noteworthy, we haven't seen Jewel or Lao Hu… or, for that matter, Headmaster around lately."

"I can't speak for your teammates, but Headmaster is off neutralizing a certain upstart threat—some sort of cosmic force that he believes poses a risk to our upcoming campaign."

"Cosmic force?" Lang said.

"Yes, some sort of power that Headmaster calls Keegan Beck; I am not sure what it is."

Lang and Shey exchanged confused glances, neither of them knowing how Keegan Beck constituted a dangerous force. Brushing it off, Shey asked, "So, what's this campaign?"

"Why, the end of the world," Janssen said. "When humankind is brought down to their barest essentials, Headmaster will advise me, I will be queen, and Kellie here will be my princess and heir."

Lang eyed the new Kellie, noticing that she hadn't said a word yet. "Uh-huh," he said. "And, all things being equal, what kind of population are we looking at for that case?"'

"One person out of every thousand," Janssen replied, "as it was in my original, perhaps poorly named, By-Half Plan. Communication and lifestyle will be stripped down to a primitive form, with technology only being accessible by the ruling class."

"Interesting," Shey said. "Anyway, go on your errand. Don't let us keep you."

The siblings withdrew to the side, allowing Janssen and the new Kellie to pass through.

"I don't think mankind is gonna like that," Lang said.

"No," Shey agreed. "Peeps need their technology."

"Let it happen," Lang said. "Let people start hating it, and then…" He formed a gun-hand, and mimed popping somebody in the back of the head. "Janssen down, her world in ruins, _we_ pick up the pieces."

"And _that _is how you usher in a peaceful tomorrow," Shey agreed.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"Tooey?" Fang said.

"Yo," I replied.

"You're cool with this, right?" he said. "Just getting him calmed down like this? 'Cause I swear, we'll get through it fast. You don't have to touch him."

"No sweat," I assured him. "If it means we get to take his ass down, I'll date him, easy."

Fang and I were standing side-by-side in the back alley behind an Olive Garden, waiting for Sean.

"He's on his way," Fang said. "You'll be alone from here."

"Hey, it's what I do," I said cheerfully.

"But only for a moment," Fang said gently. And with that, he stepped back and faded into the bricks of the alley.

I flew onto the roof, and there was Sean, circling me high above before coming into a dive.

"Me love," he said. "Knew ye'd come to yer senses."

He leaned in for a kiss, and I casually stopped him. "I'm just here to see how this goes, Sean," I said gently. "Can you understand that? I don't know if I'm ready."

Looking over Sean's shoulder, I saw Kellie zipping into the restaurant. The intent was for her to disable the hostess and take her form to keep an eye on me; Fang would also be camouflaged within the restaurant as my backup.

"Aye, certainly," he said. "So, let's discuss business and pleasure."

Ew. "Yes, let's," I said. "So, Olive Garden?"

Sean shrugged. "A favorite of mine, ultimately up t' you."

"Well, that's chivalrous. But let's stick with the Olive Garden."

We put on our heavy coats for disguises and hopped off the roof, entering the restaurant.

"Um… hello," said a flustered hostess. "What… um… I forgot what I was supposed to say."

Sean chuckled. "'S all right, lass. We'll take a table for two."

"Okay," she said. "Right this way." When she led us to the table, she turned to wink at me, her eye flashing red. Kellie was in position; that was comfortable.

"So, Sean, about your demands," I said. "Money, amnesty, and… me, am I right?"

"Essentially, yes," Sean said. "Consider it the flock investin' in me. Me with the flock's current stockpile of royalties and perpetuity, my life will truly begin." He took my hand. "_Our_ life."

I stroked his hand. "Tell me what happens to the flock then."

He scoffed. "Nothin'. Just sell a couple million more Fang dolls. Speakin' o' which, did they stop makin' me?"

"No, but you haven't sold," I told him truthfully. "People don't like you."

Sean laughed. "Well, that's not about t' change. When I get ahold of the flock's money, I'm going to be on the freakin' _map_, darlin' Tooey. Ye and I will be the rulers of a criminal empire like the world has never seen. Richest people alive, commandin' more respect than a mutant could dream of."

I felt my grip on his hand tighten as I instinctively tried to break it. "Criminal empire?" I said. "Sean, the world is ending."

"No it's not," he said, amused. "All yer bad guys out there are completely deluded. Nobody's takin' over the world or destroyin' it. But the flock's battle is gonna shake the world up. Ye and I are gonna watch from the sidelines and then… pick up the pieces."

I tightly gripped his wrist with both hands, preventing his escape. "I can't believe I let you take me to bed," I sneered.

"Wha…? I thought ye were comin' back t' me!" Sean said furiously.

"No way, fella," I said. "You're never having sex with me again. You're never having sex with _anybody_ again, because you're going to spend the rest of your life locked up."

He raised the fist on his free hand. "Ye're not about t' take me alone."

I looked out the corner of my eye, where the hostess was staring at me while a couple of customers were trying to get her attention.

"Um, I'm sorry, I don't actually work here," she said. She zipped over to me in an instant, and was Kellie again in a matter of seconds, crouched on the table between me and Sean.

People were gasping and shouting, wondering what was happening. Fang materialized behind Sean and pulled his other arm behind his back.

"Olive Garden, Sean?" he said. "So _not_ where you take a lady."

Sean kicked over the table, jostling me and Kellie. Kellie recovered first and tackled him, but he threw her off. He ran towards the exit, Kellie intercepting him several times, but each time Sean would ram her out of his way.

Imogen was waiting at the exit. She took one look at Sean, and I almost believed that she hated him as much as I did.

Imogen went completely berserk, baring her needle fangs and pointing them straight to Sean's throat.

"Im… Imogen?" Sean stammered. "No! Don't!"

But in the struggle, Kellie had managed to catch Sean and disable him, pinning him against the wall. Fang managed to pull Imogen away, and I caught up to them in the back alley.

"Imogen?" I said gently. "Did you forget to take your injection?"

Imogen cleared her throat. "Maybe," she said.

"Come on, dude, you want to be a giant bat-monster forever?" I exclaimed.

"All right, I forgot," Imogen said. "Step off. Right now, we're takin' in Sean, aye?"

"Yes," Fang said. "Kellie, you hold him tight. I'll grab Nudge and Iggy and we'll take off."

Before Fang could move, we were assailed by the sound of machine-gun fire. We all ducked, as right over our heads the brick wall was chipped into pieces by bullets.

We all turned to the entrance of the alley. A masked gunman was standing there.

"Everybody step away from Fang," he growled.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

I stepped forward, away from Tooey and Imogen, Kellie and the prone Sean. I'd heard that man's voice only briefly, but I recognized it.

"Yozan," I said.

He took off his ski mask. "Just Yozan? No first name, no title? Is that any way to address your father? …That _is_ who I am, right? That'll be why you sucker-punched me?"

"Hey, you've got the machine gun," I said dryly. "You can be whoever you want. What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you, Fang," he said. "Glue told me you attacked me on behalf of your mother… and I knew she had once lived here. It was my only lead, the _one_ lead I had to finding and having an actual conversation with my son."

Behind me, Sean slammed his head into Kellie's abdomen, and immediately leapt to a rooftop.

"Damn," Kellie said. "I'll get him." She instantly shot after him, out of sight.

Emil watched them go. "Nice crew you got there," he said. "You know, I didn't deserve getting beat up like that."

"Beaten," I corrected. Maybe just to spite him, I don't know.

"Whatever," Emil said. "But did you really think I deserved taking a beating just for being your father?"

"Isobel told me all about you, Emil," I said. "You're merely the type of guy I beat up, it's that easy. Criminal. Child abandoner. Overall, the father thing was inconsequential, I _had_ to pummel you."

Emil lowered his gun. "You're wrong, Fang."

I looked around. Kellie hadn't come back yet. I had nothing else to do.

"I'm listening," I told him.

"Yeah, you've got the essentials right," he said. "My business card says 'Emil Yozan: Shifty Crook'. That's my career, if you can call it that. It's how I've survived my whole life. I don't know how to do anything except sell stuff I shouldn't."

"You could clean french fry grease," Tooey suggested.

"And I'll be up-front with you, I've been dealing with cocaine and heroin addiction for decades," Emil said. "But I swear I'm not a bad man. I'm not an abandoner. I had no clue that you even existed."

"Good for you," I sneered.

"No, no, I mean…" Emil stammered. "I mean, obviously, I heard of the mutant bird-kids. And then, well, I knew _Fang_. Superhero, sex icon, blogger extraordinaire. But you think I ever imagined that the famous Fang was my son?"

He looked off in the distance, toward Isobel's apartment. "I've had some time, while I was searching for you, to work out the time-frame. Your mother had to have known she was pregnant when she… sent me on my way. She didn't tell me. I had no reason to believe I was a father. None."

"Really?" I said quietly.

"Yeah. Your mother was the greatest. Made me feel… not so empty. I've spent half of my life too freakin' high to remember a thing, but I remember Isobel Rush." He squinted. "And if she sent you to beat me up, maybe _she_ was the one who was too stoned to know what our relationship was really like."

I pondered that. "Always _knew_ she got stoned," I murmured.

Kellie popped back into the alley. "I lost him," she said. "He outmaneuvered me, could be anywhere in town."

"He'll go after my mom," I said.

"No, he won't."

Emil loaded his machine gun. "If that Sean fella is one of your enemies, I'm not letting him anywhere _near_ your mother."

I stared. "Are you going to speak to her?"

"I… no," Emil said. "I don't want to know what she thinks of me now. I don't want to watch her recognize me, and I certainly don't want to get slapped. Look, Fang, facing your past, it's… it's no fun at all, kid. Maybe you know that. What are you, eighteen?"

I nodded. "Today."

"No kidding? Well, happy birthday, boy. I'll protect Isobel… and I won't let her see me."

"Okay," I said. "I… I won't tell her I saw you." I looked around. "Actually, maybe it's best if she doesn't know I was ever here."

"She doesn't have to know a thing," Emil agreed.

I inhaled deeply. "Tooey, Immy, Kellie, let's go," I said.

We took off right away, collecting Iggy and Nudge on the outskirts of town, before going straight north on the journey back to Max.

While we were flying forward towards my wife, who obviously occupied my thoughts constantly, part of my mind remained behind, thinking about my mother and father who would never have anything to bond them.


	27. Chapter 27

**Update on the "SSBTMM vs. **_**ANGEL**_**" saga: I bought it, I put it out in a place where I'll have to look at it all the time. I pretty much have to read it now. I decided this because maybe it'll give me the spirit I need to give my fanfiction a decent "Max" sendoff, know what I mean? So, pray for me: I'll probably have it read by the time I post the next cluster of chapters.**

**Chapter 27**

"Yo Lissa, arm-wrestle me," I said. I put my elbow on a table and flexed my shiny claws.

"Um… sure," Lissa said. She reached for me, and I withdrew my hand.

"I'm kidding. Jeez, have some free will, ya bimbo."

I opened Fang's laptop. Maybe there would be something to occupy my mind until they got back…

And there was, more than I could have imagined. When I opened it, the screen was filled with a scraggly face with a bushy blond beard.

"Hello, Max," he said. "So much for your untraceable laptop." He laughed aloud. "This is a recording. My name is Sand Valducci, and I've been watching you for a very long time."

I saw a grainy video clip. There I was in a crate, I must have been about four years old. As the camera pulled away from me and turned, there was the man, standing there in a white coat.

Sand's face reappeared. "I work for some people who want to use you to help fulfill their own futures, using you as tools for their takeover. But I've got an agenda of my own, and that, Maximum Ride, is the _you_ agenda. I have seen your future, Max, and the future is… these guys."

Sand stepped to the side. Behind him was a wall lined with crates, and in each crate, there was a boy, all of them slightly younger than me, each one with wings. I knew those guys. Ari had shown them to me… no. They can't actually exist, can they?

"Get a good look," said Sand. "These guys will be with you until the day you die. They have each been chosen as the ultimate candidates to correctly propogate that specific, painstakingly modified double-helix that is you."

"NO!"

The laptop was thrown to the side from behind. Looking up, there was Brigid.

"He can't be here!" she stammered. "Please tell me he didn't find me!"

I stared at her. "Find _you_, Brigid? Don't you mean _me_?"

"No, me," Brigid said. "They were looking for me, saying I should be a bad guy. But I… I don't WANT to be a bad guy, Max!"

I stared. "You know, you're the first thing that comes to mind when I imagine something that'll lead our enemies straight here."

Brigid put her face in her hands. "No, that can't be. Dr. Boyar wanted to see me again, and… and Jewel called me 'Pudding', and everybody always wanting to talk to me, bothering me, but I don't… think I should be a bad guy. I should leave."

I extended my claws very slowly. "Yeah, leave," I said. "Fang's gonna be real pleased to know that his girl was a traitor this whole time."

"I am not!" Brigid said. "I mean, I didn't want to be a bad guy, and I don't now."

"Are you a bad guy or aren't you?" I said.

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer," I said.

Brigid screamed into her hand. "I just don't know, Max! These things happen to me."

"No they don't!" I snarled. "I should slash you across the face right now, for you thinking you're guiltless in all the awfulness you've caused my flock."

Brigid flinched away.

"Pal, you _decided_ to turn against the CSM," I said. "You decided that you were going to try to kill us all. Are you deciding that again?"

"I don't make decisions," Brigid said.

"Well, MAKE ONE NOW!" I snarled. "Or I'll rip your throat right out."

Brigid slumped to the floor. "I just don't know, Max," she said quietly. "I don't know who I am. Everything in the universe is in my brain all the time, and I don't understand any of it. I don't know what the definition of 'Brigid Dwyer' _is_ anymore."

I crouched down towards her, my claw wrapped around her head. Then, they withdrew into normal-sized fingers and I took her hand.

"I do," I said. "Fang hasn't risked his life all those times to rescue a bad guy. How do you think he'd feel if he thought you truly were evil? Not angry, but… miserable. And… I'd feel that way too."

"W… what?" Brigid said.

"You've got a special place in _my_ heart too," I said. "And that's who Brigid Dwyer is."

I pulled her into an embrace.

"Because… well, I love you," I said. "It's as Fang said, you're like my daughter. And as long as you're living under my roof, you're a good guy. Okay?" I looked at her. "You forget about what people want from you. Decide what _you_ want. You want to be there for Fang, don't you?"

"For everybody," Brigid said.

"For everybody," I agreed. "And you're fighting this war with _us_, not _them_. Right?"

"Right," Brigid said. "I… thank you, Max."

"No trouble, Crazy. I guess you've grown on me, and Fang planted you there." I squeezed her hand. "Let's see some of that loyalty in action."


	28. Chapter 28

**I've read it. Feel free to discuss. Oddly, I'm not that emotionally traumatized. But, as I desired, it gave me some drive to be even more true to**_** Maximum Ride**_** while working on this fanfic, though no major plot points as I had them planned are going to change—it's going to end exactly the way I envisioned it would when I first posted "MAX: The ICBG" eighteen months ago. Wow, that's a hell of a run. Good ride, eh everybody? Damn good ride.**

**Chapter 28**

In the open air of the Alaskan wilderness, I was approached fearlessly by a pair of bald eagles.

No animals ever fled away from me. Somehow, they seem to just know that I'm Angel.

As I dove down to the clearing where our hidden entrance was, I enticed the eagles to follow me, and they did, finally perching down on my forearms.

I had earlier registered the approach of those who had gone after Sean, and Fang led the way down.

"Hey, Angel," Fang said.

"Hi," I said. "No need to tell me how it went."

"Of course," Fang said, smirking. "Um, nice eagles, sweetie."

"I know, right?" I said. "Hey, after you guys have rested up a bit, maybe we can go catch some fish."

"Fishing?" Fang said. "Angel, I don't think anybody in the flock has the attention span for fishing."

"No, no," I said quickly. "I mean, go catch fish _in the manner of eagles_."

"Oh!" Fang said, smiling. "Okay. I've gotta see Max first, of course."

"Naturally," I agreed.

Fang descended into the concealed entrance. To my surprise, the eagles immediately began gravitating towards Tooey, and through some process began to impart every piece of knowledge they had about where to catch fish or build a nest. I'd heard of this ability, but hadn't really believed in it… but I saw now that it was the absolute truth. Of course, Tooey for all intents and purposes _was_ Max—if Max self-mutates, so does her clone. And since Tooey had had to survive out in the wild, her spare skills were developed to aid in that process.

Tooey made eye contact with me and smiled. "I'd _love_ to catch fish with you, Angel."

I gave her the thumbs-up. "Anytime."

I released the two eagles, who flew away.

Back in the base, Fang and Max met with a kiss, and Max quickly rolled up her jeans, revealing that she had regrown a bit of natural tissue from her hips to slightly below her knees.

"What do you think?" she said. "A little bit sexier, huh?"

Fang nodded. "Sure, babe."

"Interesting," I muttered to myself.

"Just putting in some effort for _us_, you know?" Max said, stumbling a bit. It wasn't coming naturally to her.

"There's no need for that," Fang said.

Max rubbed his arm. "Sure there is," she said.

"You're one sex-crazed mutant," Fang said.

"I'm not sex-crazed," Max said. "I merely have 'Fang fever'. That's quite common, right Lissa?"

The redhead stumbled over her own feet as she passed by, quickly straightening upon hearing her name. "Um… again, I don't know what I'm supposed to say."

Max ignored her, continuing to massage Fang's chest and shoulders. "Just trying to be sexy for you again," she said quietly.

Ugh. I'd had about enough of this… this not-Max stuff! Ever since her brief struggle with death, she'd had some kind of peculiar motivations that I couldn't fathom. "Hey, Max," I called. "Would you come clean?"

"'Bout what?" Max said casually.

"You can't lie to me, Max," I said sternly. "I think it's time you told the flock what happened when Kellie broke your neck."

Kellie looked up. "What?" she demanded.

"I don't think it was anything _you_ did, Kellie," I said. "But Max was dead for a second, and she… learned something. Something she's going to tell the flock _right now_."

"Am not," Max said cheerfully.

"What is it?" Nudge said, directly to me.

"That's the thing, I have no idea," I said. "Whenever Max has it on her mind, I can't hear her at all."

"Frankly, Angel," Max explained, "if I can keep a secret, I'm going to."

"But you shouldn't," I said. "We don't keep secrets in the flock! It's not our way."

"Angel, you're blowing this out of proportion, this is no biggie," Max lied. Blatantly. If this information didn't have the flock's attention before, it did now.

"Max, you can block your _one_ secret," I told her. "But you can't block how it makes you feel. You're terrified about something, and it's putting a lot of stress on you."

"Yeah, stress," Max said. "'Cause that's new to me."

"I'm just saying," I said. "It's not necessary. This information is hanging heavily on you. And if you want my opinion, I'd say that this secret you're keeping could account for the fact that you haven't had an orgasm in three weeks."

Fang spilled hot coffee all over himself. "WHAT?" he said, hitting an octave that he hadn't been able to reach in years.

"_Nice_ spit-take, babe," Max said.

"Um… thank you," Fang said. "I reiterate, WHAT?"

"It's not a big deal," Max said quickly. She glared at me. "What's your problem?"

"Had to be said," I retorted. "I think telling us this secret is going to improve your quality of life dramatically."

"Three weeks?" Fang demanded.

"Fang, it's not your fault," Max said quickly.

"But…" Fang muttered. "But you always…" He held his hand in the air. "I mean… every single time, we…"

"It's called faking it, Fang," Max muttered, not looking at him. "Common courtesy."

"Faking it," Fang repeated.

"Only in the past three weeks," Max said. "Angel's right, it's just… since that little incident at the hotel, with the broken neck and everything…"

"And ever since then, I haven't been doing it for you?" Fang said. He looked over Max. "Is that what the skin grafts are for? You've been thinking it was my fault?"

"Of course it's not your fault," Max said. "Angel! See what you've done? Look, Fang, you… look, I'm the one who's been on a bad kick. Whereas _you_, Fang, can make a girl orgasm just by looking at her, right Lissa?"

"If, um, if, um… I don't—"

"Shut up, Lissa," Fang snapped. "Jesus, Max is keeping some horrible secret _and_ I can't please her in bed, that's _just_ what I wanted to find out on my birthday."

"Fang, please," Max said. "First of all, I didn't want our bedroom troubles revealed to the entire base, ANGEL, and this was a fluke, okay? It's exactly like you said, normally you get me there every time." I listened to Max thinking about it for a second. "It's funny, you watch sitcoms and you hear about bad sex, but… well, that doesn't seem to happen. I guess it's another TV fabrication."

"No," Kellie said unexpectedly. "Bad sex exists. But you guys wouldn't know about it."

Max stared at Kellie. "Wow, Kellie, I knew you used to be evil, I didn't realize your past was so sordid."

"Oh, nothing I've experienced," Kellie said. "But when I was getting my checkups, back at the tower? The guys who worked on me were the same people who made all of you, you avian-human hybrids, and they talked about you sometimes. See, you guys were built to have very potent sexual pleasure to encourage frequent copulation for the rapid propagation of your hybrid species."

I found myself automatically clutching my clothes. That was some completely new information… how grotesque is that? And hearing it from Kellie, who always sounds either as if she's sounding out words on a page or as if she can't remember her lines—can't quite decide which… anyway, she talks like a small child, which made the talk about what kind of genetically-enhanced orgasms I was supposed to have… like I'd have wanted to know that anyway! Hearing it from Kellie's innocent mind was the salt in the wound.

Max sat down, in shock. "Wow," she said. "That explains a lot, Kells. Like all of this passion, and how it never went wrong, and…" Max stopped speaking, but I heard her thoughts, reverberating like crazy.

_If I'm designed to be so sex-crazy… and they take Fang away from me… as the years go by, will I be able to resist "these guys"?_

"These guys," I said quietly. I addressed everyone. "Guys, earlier today Sand Valducci sent us a message. He said he was promoting Max's agenda, and that her future was 'these guys'."

"And who are 'these guys'?" Nudge asked.

"A big wall of boys in cages," I said thoughtfully. "Max, this is linked to your secret, I'm feeling it. Can you explain?"

Max sighed. "Sure. When I died, I saw Ari."

Fang looked up for the first time. "Really?" he said.

"Yeah," Max said. "See, he'd figured out what was supposed to happen. In… in the future, the one people talk about. When there are no more humans, just us. Ari showed me the vision, the way it was planned out. It was _bad_, guys. Ari didn't like it either, he wanted me to fight it, because… well, there's a lot of focus on… what Kellie said. Propagation."

Fang took her hand. "That by itself doesn't sound bad," he said.

"No, Fang, it _is_ bad," Max said. "Because the six of us aren't ever supposed to see each other again. We have our own… _flocks_. In a bitter sense of the word. Harems. To diversify our six bloodlines."

Falon flinched. "Ew," she said.

"Max, get real," Gazzy said. "I'm not gonna let some evil people give me a harem. I love Falon."

"Yeah, dude," Iggy said, pounding Max on the shoulder. "You don't think we have free will? I'm not leaving Nudge's side for anything."

Max leaned back. "Who knows how we'll feel when fate strikes us? I had to fight it."

Fang looked over Max's cybernetics. "And… that's the reason for… all of this?"

"Yeah," Max said, looking guiltily at her chrome-and-steel feet.

"Why only six of you?" Tooey said. "What's supposed to happen to me?"

"They kill you," Max said dully.

"Of course they do," Tooey sneered.

Imogen frowned, looking carefully at Max. "But…" she said. "I've been told, since I was just a baby, that… savin' the world is me ultimate destiny. What happens t' me in yer future, Max?"

"Sorry, Imogen," Max muttered. "Your whitecoats lied to you. You were built so you could die in my service. They knew that from the beginning."

Imogen was taken aback.

Airy flitted over to Max. "Do I get killed, Mommy?" she asked.

"No," Max said, standing up. "None of this is going to happen. They're making it up as they go along. There's no accounting for what _we_ want. In the vision, I had cybernetic arms, but my legs were normal. They can't have known… and, and Fang… we'd only had _one_ child together." She held him tightly. "We're having another baby. They don't know a damn thing. We don't have to fight this future, because they forgot about our free will."

I started wringing my hands. Maybe I'd gotten more of an answer than I'd wanted.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Laying in bed that night, I considered the large group of people whom Sand Valducci had referred to only as "these guys". Did they have their own thoughts, or hopes and dreams? Or were they mindless, meant only to breed, to take it in turns with each member of the original flock?

Either way, they were here. We'd seen them on film. How would they react to knowing that their ultimate fate was a moot point? That none of them were ever going to procreate with Max or Fang or Nudge or Iggy or Gazzy… all of them taken… not me, though.

Thing is, folks, I may be eleven years old, but that's pure chronology. I'd never pass in a crowd of other people my age. My body development is a bit ahead, and my mind is _way_ ahead of its age. When Nudge was eleven, she slept with Iggy, and anyone can agree that she'd been totally ready for it.

And, well, hearing everybody's thoughts all the time, I've experienced a _lot_ of sex… enough to know that I'd like to do it myself one day. With the right person, of course, who would be mine forever… maybe one of "these guys", maybe one who was specifically designed for me, or even a guy who'd been developed for Max or Nudge… maybe among them was my one and only.

Yes. It has to be. We have to find them.

I could plant the thought in Max's mind. Simple as thinking, _Let's rescue "these guys"._ No, too risky. She catches onto me too quick. She'd know that her thoughts were incongruous.

But who's to say she'd be able to pick out my motivation? I could just suggest it to everybody. They're being kept in cages, after all. We've all experienced that, we all hate it, we'd want to help them. And dozens and dozens of bird-kid allies? Talk about your great ideas. Why _wouldn't_ everybody want to go rescue them?

Yeah. In thinking these things, I'm being perfectly decent. Nobody needs to know that my mission in life is to get some… you know, in the perfect, forever-and-ever way of getting some.

Speaking of which, I'd been right about the unnecessary stress having an effect on Max. As soon as she'd told everyone, her muscles had gotten all relaxed, her mind cleared up, and she was beyond able to climax. I know this because I can read her thoughts… and, it's probably just telepathy, but I'd swear I can hear this through the reinforced walls:

"oh… oh… aaaaahOHHHHHHaaaa—aah—AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Oy vey, if the world doesn't end I'm gonna need some therapy.

**Endnote: One thing I found intriguing was a little character by the name of "Maya". So here's my question: Hands up, who prefers Tooey? ;) Know what I mean?**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

I ran my claws through my hair. A fine comb and other touches around the house were some of the advantages, even if people _did_ like the old flesh-and-blood Max better, I liked me just fine.

Fang's little cell phone started chiming some distance behind me in our room. In the mirror, I saw him pick up.

"Yo," he said. "Uh-huh. Sure, I can score you some coke."

I turned around, arching an eyebrow at him.

"No, nothing. Just making sure Max was paying attention," he said. "Turns out, she was. So, what's up?" He paused. "And Sean? Damn. …Oh, no worries. He's a sneak, that's his whole deal. Kellie couldn't even figure out where he'd gone. Cool, I'll see you later."

He hung up. "Who was that?" I asked him.

"That was one Emil Yozan," Fang said.

"The criminal?"

"My father, yes."

"Hmm," I said. "So, what's he like?"

"Oh, he's a deeply flawed individual, make no mistake," Fang said. "He's got the guts to single-handedly hunt down a mutant like Sean, but won't even go near Isobel. And there's the whole 'cocaine-and-heroin' deal. But the man crossed the country just for the off-chance that he might find me, and I can't ignore that."

"Uh, lots of people do that, Fang," I said dryly.

"Exactly. Good or bad, we might as well keep our eyes on those people."

"Yeah, I see what you're saying," I said.

"But he _cares_, Max, you know?" Fang said. "He cares about DNA, and I'm not gonna be a hypocrite about _that_. I've told you how I feel about genes."

"What, that I look really good in them?" I offered.

Fang gave me a thumbs-down. "Bad pun," he said in a shrill, grating voice.

"The hell was that?" I said.

"Well, Emil isn't without his own skills. He can handle a machine gun and has been aiding me with my Gilbert Gottfried impression." He resumed the voice. "_A family walks into a talent agency_…"

I snorted. "Wow, that's actually _less_ sexy than steel-beam legs," I said. "That's new to me."

"New to you? Being the sexy one? Right, well, that was… that was Gilbert Gottfried."

"Sure was," I said, leaving the room. "Yo, Immy! Sup with you?"

"Eh, I'm a'right," she said. I flinched, realizing she was giving herself her daily injections.

"You feeling a bit down on yourself, Imogen?" I said gently.

She glared at me. "I've just found out me life is a dirty deception and I'm supposed to die. How am I supposed to feel?"

"Oh, come on, dude…" I said.

"I'd like t' talk t' those damn whitecoats," Imogen grumbled. "I don't even know why I'm here anymore, why am I… why do I bother?" She tossed aside her syringe.

"Um, how about to keep your human brain functions active?" I offered. "Look, Imogen, I don't want you to 'die in my service'. That's ridiculous."

"I _would_, ye know," Imogen said suddenly.

"Don't," I told her. "Okay? Don't. You're my protégé. Who else is qualified to be a leader?"

"Fang, then Iggy, then Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Tooey, Airy, _then_ me?" Imogen offered.

I paused. "Um… okay, you might be right about that. But not Airy! I'm not gonna put up Airy as a successor, she's a baby."

"Fine," Imogen muttered.

"And Nudge outranks Iggy."

"Really? Isn't Iggy older?"

"Yeah, and a lot more qualified, but… I don't know, maybe I just like her better. Anyway, Imogen, don't die on me, dude, and keep taking your dope. I like you better as a thinking person."

Imogen shook her head. "Well, ye might be out o' luck there. I'm goin' t' get some wine, the flock's gonna get blitzed."

"Imogen!" I said. "None of us drink."

"Oh, please," she said, sneering. "Keepin' people away from alcohol is one o' those American things, like the word 'dude' and havin' to pay somebody when you go t' the frickin' hospital."

"Feeling a bit anti-America are we?" I said dryly.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"No, I'm with you. I've never been a citizen of anywhere, you know. The world is messed-up. All the bad guys who are out for 'universal reform', I agree with those guys. I'm just gonna do it without killing everybody."

"Really?" Imogen said with interest.

"Are you kidding?" I said. I held up my arms. "Look at these. Shouldn't everyone who's ever lost a limb have one of these, for no cost? And what about people who can't stand up straight, or even move anymore, wouldn't their lives be better with a cybernetic _spine_? And…" I started clicking my fingers against my artificial eye. "I mean, things would be better if the people who knew how to do this stuff didn't have to be so _evil_ all the time."

"You are so beautiful, Max," said a quiet voice. I turned happily to Keegan.

"Hey, buddy," I said, drawing her into a hug.

"Hi, Max," she said.

"It's so good to see you, what brings you by?"

She looked over at Imogen, eyeing her large ears, and said, "Let's go talk privately, Max."

"Okay…" We stepped over to the side. "What's happening, Keegs?"

"I… can't be involved in this war anymore," she said.

"What?" I said. "But Keegan, we need you."

"I can't do it," she said. "My father has seen the things that happen to you and the people you know… and he forbade me from being involved anymore."

"Your dad forbade you?" I said. "So what? Disobey him. Better yet, screw up his mind, make him totally happy you're doing these great things."

"Well, I… I feel like I have to respect him," Keegan said. "I mean, I've gone without parental authority for so long. You must know what I'm talking about."

"My mother," I said, "would never _dream_ of telling me what to do. Certainly not anything so monumentally stupid."

"Well, that's the difference between you and me, then," Keegan said. "Because I'm doing what my parents want."

"You're kidding me," I said. "So, what are we supposed to do? Fight the omnipotent Headmaster without any backup? Yeah, we're not dead _yet_. But what happens when he says, 'Hey, wait a second, I'm the bad guy. I don't need to hold myself to some weird standards like Keegan does. I'm gonna take over the world right now!' What then? You're not gonna help?"

"I'm sorry," Keegan said.

"Yeah, yeah. Speaking of your dad and Headmaster, aren't they the same guy? Don't you think this order is a bit suspicious?"

"Oh, shut up!" Keegan said. "I think we agreed it's equally as likely that _your_ dad is Headmaster."

"Who, Jeb?" I said. "Big deal, I don't care about him."

"Well, there's another difference between you and me," Keegan said. "The idea that my dad might be the world's most terrible villain just _kills_ me. That's why I'm pulling out."

"You're seriously pulling out?" I said. "I don't… how _dare_ you. You are not running away on me _again_. You _know_ how much we need you. Why do you have to pull this coward move all the time?"

Keegan sighed. "I don't want to fight with you, Max."

"WHAT?" I demanded. "_You_ yelled at _me_, you freakazoid!"

Keegan's face scrunched up with anger and she vanished, leaving behind a bitter wind that felt like needles in my face but quickly vanished.

Ugh, _and_ she has to remind me how good at heart she really is. Even when she's having a fit of anger, she thinks enough to let the pain pass.

I stomped my feet and tore at my hair angrily. "Damn it, Keegan," I muttered. "Hand us to Headmaster on a platter, why don't you."


	30. Chapter 30

**Funny thing, I remember back in the days of "The Big Guy", all the reviewers just called him "Big Guy" with no **_**the**_**. Now I have "Headmaster", and you guys call him "**_**The**_** Headmaster". Weird how things are perceived, huh?**

**Chapter 30**

We were diving for fish.

Well, yeah, you think we'd bring that up and then not _do_ it? Of course we're doing it.

Iggy had already caught more than me, which really just killed me. Apparently, an automatically targeting eye in addition to raptor vision and arms perfect for spear-fishing still doesn't match up to whatever the hell he's got.

I dove under the water, nabbing a fish which somehow managed to slip away, still bleeding. I walked back onto the shore.

"Nothing?" Iggy said cheerfully.

"Suck it," I countered. "Gotta wait a while to go again, can't get lift with wet feathers."

Iggy rubbed Nudge's shoulders, as she was similarly drying off. "Is it just me, or are 'wet feathers' the sexiest two words that exist?"

"It's not just you, but it's… well, a very select group," Nudge offered.

"Like, guys _with_ feathers?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Wet feathers, huh?" Gazzy said thoughtfully. "Fals, let me see your wings. …Oh yeah, that's gorgeous."

"Hang on," Iggy said, holding up a finger. "Never mind her _actual_ feathers, say the phrase."

Falon thought that over. "We' feavers," she said.

"There you go," Iggy said, slapping his knee. "Now that's sexy." Nudge poked him in the eye.

Fang strolled out of the water with a large, plump fish.

"Ooh, nice one, Fang," Iggy said.

Fang held it up as Gazzy took a picture. "Dinner," he said simply.

"Ooh, vintage Fang one-worder," I commented.

Fang smirked. "Boy, that's a bracing cold. Love it. I mean, if the water in Hawaii was ice-cold—well, this is Alaska, baby."

"Sure is," I said. I whipped out a towel to help him groom his wings… you know, wet feathers _do_ kind of turn me on. Well, actually, most things do, I admit. "'Course, doesn't matter how warm the water is, I'm never going back to Hawaii. Two words: Krelp."

Angel giggled. "Max, the Krelp are advanced and friendly."

"They're also scary as hell. Hate them. Animals shouldn't be two hundred feet long."

"Well, no, they shouldn't. Nuclear radiation did it to them."

"Quit reasoning with me, you know I hate that," I said.

Angel laughed, then took her turn to fly up and dive for fish.

I realized that Fang was toying with two index cards. "Whatcha got there, babe?" I asked.

"Nothing," Fang said, trying to conceal them.

I reached out with my claws and opened his hands, quickly nabbing the two index cards.

Fang had written on both of them in black marker: one of them read "Alton Yozan-Rush", the other "Alton Rush-Yozan".

I looked up at him.

"Don't worry, babe," he said. "I'm not changing my name or anything… just, you know, if I ever need an alias, when we've averted the end of the world and all. 'Cause we'll have more stuff to do. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," I grumbled. "Our destiny's never gonna be over, I know."

"So, which one would you recommend?" he said, pointing to the cards.

"Don't know," I said. "They're both pretty clunky, babe."

"Eh, yeah," Fang admitted.

"Oi, Babe and Babe," said a voice.

We swung around, face-to-face with Sean. Brigid stood behind him, with a gun at his back.

"Sean," Fang said darkly.

"No shit," Sean replied.

"I apprehended him," Brigid said proudly.

"Ye did no such thing," Sean sneered. "I've come here fer another bargain."

"Name it, and we'll laugh in your face and then kick you," I said.

Sean produced a large manila envelope. "No, ye'll not do anythin' like that," he said. "I've got some valuable information."

Tooey whipped past me and Fang. "What information?" she demanded.

"Ah, Tooey, me darlin', good to see ye," he said. "Well, take a look at this." He whipped out an 8x10 glossy and held it up. "Ye ever hear of 'these guys'?"

Tooey shrank back. I tapped her shoulder, then looked at the photo. Was it the same guys? I couldn't tell, but they had that familiar, withered look. I mentioned that "these guys" aren't exclusively male, didn't I? Well, a given, since some of them are supposed to breed with the flock's guys and… never mind.

"How'd ye get that?" Imogen sneered. "That's secret stuff, innit?"

"Sure is," Sean said. "I got in contact with a couple o' familiar faces from our past."

He pulled out another photo, this one of a couple of whitecoats. I flinched internally.

"No," Imogen said softly. "Those are _our_ blokes, who raised us."

"Thank you, Madam Exposition," Sean said, bowing. "Aye, I tracked 'em down for meself and they were rather hospitable. Gave me everythin' I needed to know."

"Sean, they were lyin' to us in our youth," Imogen said. "We're not supposed t' change anythin'. We're cannon fodder for Max's enemies."

"Do I care?" Sean said. "Ain't no such thing as destiny. And if there is, I'll make me own. This information is valuable, aye? Would ye like me to tell where ye might find these tragic figures?"

"Tell us," Imogen demanded.

"Nah," Sean said. "This is me leverage, yer reason for keepin' me around. I'm in charge o' this flock now."

"Oh, give me that," I said, snatching the folder from him. "There goes your leverage. Come on, there's _one_ of you. One. And none of _us_ respect you at all. You're not taking over anything."

"So," Sean said. "Do ye want to find 'these guys' or what?"

"Eventually," Fang said. "When we've got spare time. Until then, we're just gonna hang out with my dad and Glue, let them know that they can stop chasing you."

"Glue?" Nudge said, cutting an arm across Fang's chest. "What do you know about Glue?"

"Well, it sticks papers together," Fang said dryly. "It's what my father calls his receptionist, why?"

"Sand Valducci's wife is named Glue," Nudge said. "Is that supposed to be a coincidence? Who has a substance for a name who isn't a Valducci?"

I pointed to Brigid. "What about Pudding?"

Her eyes widened. "That's a coincidence," she said.

"I know, Brigid," I said. "You need to relax a little bit."

"So, yer dad's hangin' out with a Valducci?" Sean taunted. "Oh, boy, do ye ever need me."

"No," Fang said. "No we don't."

Sean crossed him arms smugly. "I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. "Ye're never gonna liberate 'these guys' without me."

Imogen grabbed Sean's chin. "Oh, aye," she said. "I wouldn't have it any other way, me brother—we _do_ need cannon fodder."


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Jewel stepped up to the very square building that was on Grease's pamphlet.

"So, we've got our Illuminati," he said to himself. "Well, we'll see what kind of interests we might have in common."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jewel was welcomed graciously, and brought in front of the Threes.

"Ah, Jewel," said Boyar. "We've been waiting on you."

"We knew you'd be drawn to this kind of power," said McAllister. "Professor ter Borcht?"

ter Borcht turned around in his hovering chair. "_Guten tag, herr_ Jewel," he said.

"Whatever," Jewel said.

"So, how did you come to find our organization?"

"Grease Valducci gave me your pamphlet," Jewel said, displaying it. "I've heard some interesting crap about you people. Like you're Illuminati who rule the world."

ter Borcht laughed. "Eventually, my friend," he said. "For ze time being? Ve're vaiting. Ze flock shall defeat ze Survivors, zeir final obstacle, and zey shall come villingly to us, belong to us. Vit zem at our feet, ve shall rule all sings."

"Oh, v'really?" Jewel said. "Tell me more."

ter Borcht brought his chair to the ground and stepped toward Jewel. "Ve could use someone like you," he said.

"What, to hold tea?" Jewel said, crossing his arms. "Sorry, fellas, but if _you_ rule all things, what does that make me?"

ter Borcht stood silently.

"You're carefully weighing your response, aren't you?" Jewel said. "'Cause no matter what you say… A subject? An advisor? A kick-ass duke? Either way, _I_'m not in charge of this situation. And that's the only way that this plan is going to work for me."

"I… I see," ter Borcht said. "Listen, ze power…"

"Ze power," Jewel said, nodding. He looked between the three Threes. "Funny thing. You're all human, aren't you?"

"Of… course," ter Borcht said uncertainly.

"Oh, how interesting," Jewel said, tapping his fingers together. "Can't get enough of that…"

"Vhat are you talking about?" ter Borcht said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, I just wanted to know," Jewel said. "'Cause, see, it's kind of interesting, that you three have got all of this immense power over every person, every event in this world, and yet I can just, sort of, go like this…"

With that, he slashed all three of their throats at once. ter Borcht collapsed to the ground, while the other two slumped in their chairs.

"Hmm," Jewel said, playing with the flap of skin left on ter Borcht's neck. "Not much blood. Maybe you've become _too_ good, Jewel. He doesn't even look that dead. Let's see."

Jewel began compressing ter Borcht's chest, and blood began pumping out of his throat.

"Cute," Jewel said. "Well, that's the Threes down. Let's prove to everybody that Jewel is in charge of this operation now." From a compartment inside his body, Jewel drew out a series of wires and bombs, and began setting the bombs all around the room.

"Nicely done, Jewel," said a voice. Jewel turned to see Sand Valducci.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jewel asked.

"I'm Sand."

"Grease's dad? I like Grease. I like the way he looks when his heart abruptly stops beating."

Sand shrugged. "Fine, then."

"Ooh, you're a darn good sport," Jewel said. "So, you must be okay with me blowing up your building?"

"Sure," Sand said. "I was hoping to do that myself, actually."

"Do tell," Jewel said.

"Well, you see, the flock will have the world," Sand said. "Humanity will be wiped out, and that includes me. You and your lady, of course, will have free reign of whatever it is you want free reign of."

"Excellent," Jewel said, continuing to set up bombs. "So, now I've gotten rid of _these_ guys, I can eradicate the human-types. Not quite the 'one hundred' plan, but it works."

"Hmm, I advise you to be careful," Sand said. "You've destroyed Boyar, McAllister, and ter Borcht, but they were merely the 'Threes'."

"Are you suggesting I have Ones and Twos to deal with?" Jewel said. "No biggie. Just a couple more human-types to slice and dice on."

"Indeed," Sand said. "You're one hell of a guy, Jewel. You're going right along with the agenda the flock needs."

"No more humans?" Jewel said. "Yeah, in a weird sort of way, me and the flock have been on the same side for a very, very long time."

"Mind if I come along with you, Jewel?" Sand asked. "Myself and Mr. Zeal require a bit of preparation to aid the flock before our deaths."

The tiny brown-haired man peered out from behind Sand.

"And you're cool with this?" Jewel said to Mr. Zeal.

"Yes, I am," Zeal said. "I love this planet more than my own life. And here's what saves the planet."

Zeal pushed a clicker, revealing the 300-foot hologram of _Maximum Ride: Number One_.

"That's adorable," Jewel said.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"Well," Max said, poring over the papers. "Let me take a look, I could be wrong… but it appears that 'these guys' are being held at the Institute for Higher Living. New York, New York."

"Crud," I said.

"You know the place, Tooey?"

"Totes," I said bitterly.

"Oi, Tooey," Sean said from behind me.

I eyeballed him.

"Listen, Tooey, we've had our share of disasters," he whispered. "But I can't do this anymore, me love. I can't live alone any longer. I need ye… I love ye. I'm beggin'. Take me back, and try to make everybody see…"

"No, Sean," I said loudly. "You hear that, everybody? Sean wants me to take him back! Dumb bastard. I guess the sap's criminal empire isn't working out."

Sean growled. "Oh, I open up me soul and ye humiliate me in front o' everybody?" he said. "That's just plain mean, even fer you, Tooey."

"Look, fella," I snapped at him. "You called me the wrong name, you slept with some other girl, you tried to shoot me. These aren't mutant problems, Sean, these are regular old human dirtbag problems. We're keeping you around for the whole 'these guys' situation, but then you're gone."

Sean slunk away. I had no sympathy.

Well, a little bit.

"Am I doing this right, Angel?" I said.

"Well, sure," Angel said. "He's a douche."

"Yeah," I said. "But the flock is… kind of, I don't know… running out of boys."

I looked over at Gazzy, who was in a tight embrace with Falon. "You're so gorgeous," Gazzy said.

"Fanks, Gaz," she said. "You're awful nice t' me, sexy."

"You know, I'm thinking of changing my name," he said. "I'm just done with being a 'Gasman'. What do you think of 'El Capitán'?"

"Oh, dat's jus' silly," Falon said. "I wan' you to stay exactly the Gazzy I fell in love wiv, baby-doll."

"Wow," Gazzy said.

Falon pulled herself in closer, then remarked, "Uh-oh. Fort I took care o' dat."

"That was like an hour ago," Gazzy said.

"Ah," Falon said. "Well, maybe I'll 'ave time to work on dat before we go."

They shuffled away, trying to act as if they hadn't wanted everybody to hear that exchange.

"Running out of boys… yeah," Angel agreed. She looked around at Fang with Max, Iggy with Nudge. Gazzy with Falon, and Sean, banished and positively undateable. That left four single girls: me, Angel, Imogen, and Jax… no guys for us.

"Sure there are," Angel said, responding to my thoughts. "We're going to save 'these guys'. There's a ton of them. And I guarantee you that some of them are going to adore you."

"Why, because they're programmed to bang Max?" I said dryly.

"Tooey," Max chided from a distance. "I think we're gonna find that they have independent thoughts. You're gonna be fine."

I stepped over to Max. "So, Max…" I said. "When you died. You really saw Ari?"

"Yeah," Max said, smiling. "He mentioned you. He really loved you. Still does."

"Right," I said. "He loved _you_, you dope. I was a substitute."

"Um, how about no?" Max said. "He absolutely adores you. You think you and him didn't bond? 'Cause he certainly seems to think you did."

"Well, I suppose," I said thoughtfully. "I remember we used to wake up super-early every morning to catch the rerun of _Gargoyles_… we got through the whole series at least once."

"I liked that show," Max said. "Very nineties."

"Totes. Me and Ari, we _got_ that show, you know, _Gargoyles_. Outcast, nobody able to know we exist. Shunned by anybody who does know. But we had companions; Ari was a true companion to me, the only one I knew for years…" I realized that Max was pouting sympathetically. "You know what?" I said. "I'm not gonna tell stories anymore, 'cause that just makes people feel sorry for me, and that's not what I'm going for. I'm gonna focus on the present, and I'm gonna kick some ass!"

"Yeah, baby," Max said.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

I braided my hair in front of the mirror, while Iggy loomed over me.

"What do you think about 'these guys'?" I asked. "Women who were meant for you. It's… I don't know."

"It's not possible," Iggy said. "They can't _design_ somebody's soulmate. You can't program the human soul, babe. But you and me…" He tapped my belly. "Someday, we're gonna have lots and lots of babies. And their world? It's not gonna be built for them, not for a second, it's gonna be what _they_ make of it."

I kissed him. "Love you, Iggy," I said.

We exited our room, standing in a quickly ad-libbed conference room.

"Hey, everybody," Max said. "Okay, Fang and I have prepared a quick PowerPoint to detail our attack plan upon the Institute and break out 'these guys'."

"Okay," Iggy said. "But don't let Fang handle the clicker, gimme it…" Iggy snatched it.

"Why can't I work the slideshow?" Fang said irritably.

"Well, I don't trust you to push a button."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, you haven't pushed Max's button for—"

Fang poked Iggy in the eye.

"Ooh, I've gone blind," Iggy said. "…About nine years ago."

"Okay, are you done?" Max said. "I'll have you know Fang's been right on target since we were fourteen, right Lissa?"

"COULD YOU STOP THAT?" the redhead shrieked from far away.

"Enough running gags," Fang said. "Let's start our game plan."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We were off. I gathered the Heartbeat, the best super-weapon of all time, and considered the forty-foot-high black lump that was our dear friend, the Cell.

"Are you coming, buddy?" I asked it.

"NNNNNNUDGE…?" it rumbled for a moment.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Angel squinted at the Cell. "It's trying something," she said.

It melted down into a slick, black liquid form, and slowly began to build itself up again, into a vaguely humanoid shape.

And then… a _very_ human shape. It held out a blunt hand, which slowly became a perfectly formed human hand. The faceless creature came close, feeling my face and Iggy's.

Then it grew a human face. Its entire body was still black stone, but its face, its movements, were exactly like a flesh-and-blood human.

"Whoa, Cell," Iggy said. "How long have you been practicing that? There's no need for…"

The Cell pulled us into a hug. I felt its warmth, all the love that it had harbored for me and Iggy for months and months.

"I… LOVE," it mumbled.

"You're so sweet," I said. "I love you too, Cell."

"Are we ready to take off?" Fang called.

"You coming too, Cell?" I asked kindly.

It sprouted a huge, broad pair of gargoyle wings. "Nice," Iggy commented, feeling them.

"Everyone ready to go?" Fang reiterated.

"Actually," Max said, "if someone could set me up for a final 'right Lissa' joke…"

"Let's go," Fang interrupted.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Here we were in good old NYC, in front of a familiar institute.

"Are we ready for this?" I said to everyone.

"Sure thing, Fang," Angel said, saluting. "Max, where are you?"

She was far behind us, looking around at the city. She wore her sweater and gloves to hide her arms, and a white bandage over her eye, all to keep hidden there in the open. She was detached, distracted. Poor Max… there were a lot of memories here in New York. Most of them not so good. All of them life-defining.

The New York crowds had begun to separate Max from the rest of us. "Babe," I called.

"Coming," she said, sifting through the crowd back to us.

"Well, first time she's said that word in about three weeks," Nudge said.

"Bam," Gazzy replied, high-fiving her.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, how much longer is this gonna go on?"

"Forever," Nudge said. "This could very well be our new 'black shirt, black coat, black jeans' routine."

"Oh, I loved that one," Iggy said.

"Lay off, you guys," Max said. "We're heading in."

We entered the building. At the receptionist's desk was a young woman with very long, very curly brown hair.

"Hi," she said. "What can I do for all of you."

"Guess," I said. I spread my wings out.

She gasped. "Oh, Fang, it's you! You're finally here! Fang's here, Fang's here, Fang's here!"

My hand went instinctively to my pistol. "Been expecting me?" I asked.

"You and your legions of chopped liver, I imagine," Iggy said. He was offended for the same reason I was freaked out. Why was this girl so entranced by me?

"Wait, I remember you," Max said, removing the bandage from her mechanical eye. "Last time we were in New York, you're the one who led all the trapped mutants away."

"Is she really?" I said.

"Let's take a look at your wings," Max said.

The girl smiled and stood up. There were her wings. Brown and utterly drab, but they were still wings.

"Glad you remember me, Max," she said, bowing. "My name is Evan." She looked deeply at me. "I'm the one who was made for Fang."

Max laughed. "You and a dozen others," she said.

"No, no," Evan said. "See, there are a lot of other girls, they're on the basement level, if you're looking—"

"All we had to know," Max said. "Let's go."

"But I'm cool with that," Evan said. "Because I'm Fang's soulmate."

I looked her over. "Eh… no you're not."

"But—"

"Hey, kid, I've always wondered," Max said. "That group you led away. What happened to them?"

Evan covered her face. "Well, that… didn't end well," she said. "I'm… I'm not built to be a leader." She looked up at me once again. "I was built for genetics. I'm the _one_, you see, the one who'll produce your most royal offspring, the strongest ones. And we're going to have so many…"

I picked her up and held her at arm's length. "No, we're not," I said firmly. I set her down and looked her over. "I mean, come on. What are you, ten?"

"I was ten _last time_ we met, you big galoot," Evan said, smirking. "I assure you, I'm quite mature. So… want to start the monarchy right now?"

"How about no?" I said.

"Let's just get these guys and split," Max said.

"That includes me, right?" Evan said, seeming uncertain for the first time.

"Yes," Max said. "Time you learned to think for yourself. I saw this coming, all of you people being forced to find out that your purpose in life is dead wrong."

"I wouldn't count on that," Evan said. "Fang _will_ have to mate, you know."

"I got that covered," Max said, pointing to Airy.

Evan did a small double-take—there was pretty much no mistaking Airy for anything besides a me-and-Max combo—then slunk around back behind her desk.

"You're surprisingly calm about this, Max," I said.

"Eh, I'm used to it," she said. "Everybody wants to do you. But I've become accustomed to your fidelity as well."

Evan pressed an intercom button. "Dylan," she said. "Dylan, she's here! Bring Mrs. Valducci."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Who's Dylan, who's 'she', and who do you imagine Mrs. Valducci is?"

"Your mate, you, and our benefactor," Evan said. "She's gotten us ready for… you know. Our calling. That being that I'm Fang's other half." She gave me the Bambi eyes.

"Uh-huh. See, you're really not, though," I said.

Elevator doors opened, and Glue Valducci stepped out. She was followed by a group of individuals who proudly wore their wings.

"Hello again, Fang," she said. "I hope you've enjoyed Evan's company? You'll enjoy that and much more of her for many years to come." She looked past me. "Hmm… there are more of you than I thought. I was only expecting the six."

"The six of us aren't participating, Glue," I said. "And we've brought our friends and family because they're sympathetic. We're rescuing these guys, and we'll have no part of your breeding program."

"Oh, Fang, you make it sound so barbaric," Glue said. "Don't laugh at destiny."

"I don't belong with Evan, and it's that simple," I said. Evan looked stunned and hurt. A good sign. If she could take this information, maybe she had free will.

"Yes, you do," Glue said. "We created the two of you to be together. We are your God. We're sacrificing everything, our lives, our very species, to protect your genetics. You think after all the years I spent keeping my eye on your oblivious father, I'm letting you counteract my grand plan? Worthless man he might have been, but we kept watch on _all_ of your parents."

I stepped up to Glue. "You think you're a big part of the grand design?" I said quietly. "Tough talk from a simple human woman who never even factored in free will."

"You're not going to make these decisions by yourself," Glue said. "You couldn't possibly."

"I decided to do _this_," I said.

And from mere inches away, I shot her in the stomach. My tiny projectile embedded itself in her skin, then exploded. Glue Valducci collapsed to the ground, her torso open and bloody.

"You can't be ceremonious with Valduccis," Nudge said. "They all… suck."

I was more concerned about the reaction of "these guys". Evan looked horrified, and when she caught me looking at her, slumped back. She'd gotten the picture. I remembered all those years ago, she'd always been quick to see the point.

"Well," said a bulky blond-haired guy. "I… I guess it's time to face our future." He turned to Max. "My name is Dylan, you've met Evan, and this is Aelea, Ienzo, Asa, and Lee. We're… well, we're to be responsible for your bloodlines."

"I already don't like you," Max said. "Take us to the captives. We're blowing this dump."


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"To the basement," I announced. "Um, hey, Bozo."

"Dylan," he corrected.

"Yeah, you. How much security is down there?"

"Not much," Dylan said. "Work goes on at night. The guys are just locked in."

I glared. "And you haven't got a problem with that?"

He rolled a shoulder. "It's not like they're genetic perfection like the rest of us, they're just… good enough."

"Good enough to lock up," Iggy said, prepping a lockpick. "I'm ready for this, Max."

"Get started," I said. "Folks, how many guys are down there?"

"Forty-eight," a young black-haired girl said. Aelea, the "match" for Iggy.

Iggy whirled around, arching an eyebrow. "Sorry?" he said.

"Forty-eight," she repeated. "You each get nine companions, counting your soulmate."

"Son of a bitch," Iggy muttered. "I can't pick forty-eight locks, that's ridiculous."

"We're all gonna help you out," Gazzy said quickly. "Come on, we can get this done in a matter of minutes."

I flexed my index finger, and a single narrow rod extended from it. There it is.

You got a problem with that? What kind of cyborg would I be if I _didn't_ have a lockpick attachment? Come on.

"Thank God, 'cause this is gonna freakin' suck, folks," Iggy said, walking unerringly to the basement door.

Dylan smirked. "Hey, Aelea, your guy is more grouchy than we ever role-played him, huh? You're gonna have to work at it."

Nudge, following Iggy, absent-mindedly slapped Dylan as she passed.

We all congregated to the basement… oh, the horror. The horror. It was straight out of my childhood.

A row of cages, none of them tall enough for the occupants to stand in, lined the bleached floor. At the far end of the room were the windows, windows to another shiny room. Whatever went on behind that window… I didn't want to know.

I began working at the very closest lock. The guy in there looked up at me, sleepy-eyed. "Wha's goin' on?" he mumbled.

"We're busting you out of here, man," I said gently. "We're saving your life."

He blinked. "You're, uh… you're the flock. You're the saviors."

"Damn right."

"Which one are you?" he whispered.

I heard the satisfying click as the tumblers opened, then looked at him surprised. "I'm Max, dude. You don't know that?"

"We're, um…" he began absently. "We're not as informed as your 'perfect other half'," he said, glowering at Dylan. "They don't tell us anything."

"Well, that ends now," I assured him. "Equal treatment all around."

"…Really?" he said.

"Yeah," I said. "If you try to hit on me, I'll break your jaw every bit as much as I'll break Dylan's."

"I'd pay to see that," he said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was almost an hour later that we got everybody out of the cages.

"Boy, this isn't gonna be easy," I muttered. "How are we gonna get all these people to safety?"

Nudge tapped my shoulder. "Can I take this one?" she whispered. "You know, the public speaking thing?"

"Yeah, that's a whole lot of your area," I said. "Go."

Nudge walked to the stop of the stairs. "Listen up!" she said loudly. "Okay, there are sixty-eight of us, and if we're all gonna get out of here alive, we have to function as a single unit. We're going out the back door and flying to the roof of the building, where we'll rest until Max can formulate our next move. With all of us going up there at once, we won't escape being noticed—we'll be the talk of Manhattan. However, in such a large group, nobody's gonna be able to do anything about it, even if we _are_ loitering on private property. We've got the strength of numbers and, damn it all, we're gonna use it. Max, any revisions?"

I stepped up to her. "Sounds good," I said. "But, uh, are we sure they're _able_ to get up to a roof?"

"They wouldn't breed us with people who can't fly, right?" Nudge said. "HANDS UP, WHO CAN'T FLY?"

Some of the group shot us scowls. No hands went up.

"See? They're offended," Nudge said. "We're outta here."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And in a matter of minutes, we'd gotten the entire group onto the roof of the Institute. I peered over the edge and zoomed in with my eye; people were still looking up and staring…

I turned back to Fang. "Would you look at that, Fang?" I said. "I'm looking at sixty-seven people right in front of me. My entire protectorate… and Sean."

Fang snorted with a laugh. "You ought to address them," he said.

"Yeah, all right," I said. "Ahem… HEY!"

Every gloomy face glanced up at me.

"Okay, listen," I said. "People who came here with me, come stand over here. Everybody else… well, I hate to say this, but you should get this straight. We don't want you. We'll _never_ want you."

Confused mutterings. Oh boy.

"Look, I don't want you to think that your lives are ruined," I said. "Your lives are just beginning now. We're offering you… free will. That's what we're doing, right?" I said, turning to Fang.

"Since when do you have trouble with public speaking?" he whispered.

"I don't know," I said. "It's… it's 'these guys'! I don't know how to talk to them." I cleared my throat and turned back to the crowd. "Hey, folks," I said. "Listen, I… I grew up in a crate, all right? I know what you've been through. And I'm pretty sure… I know what you've been told. But here's the truth. The end of the world scenario that you've been taught—I will not allow it to happen. But things _will_ change in the world, and…"

"Bollocks," Sean said.

My claws extended, instantly appearing at Sean's throat. "You say something, Sean?" I said casually.

"There's no need for that," Sean said. "But could I just speak?"

"Shoot," I said.

"I'm not a part of any group here," he said. "I'm on me own, but there's one thing that I'm absolutely sure of." He stepped around my grasp and stood in front of the crowd.

"This isn't about the world," he said. "This is about two groups. Ye've got the CSM, ye've got the Survivors. Now, these two groups are gonna duke it out. Maybe one will win, maybe the other, maybe they're both destroyed. Don't matter. Life on earth, gonna be exactly the same as it was before. Neither of 'em are that powerful." He looked over at the flock. "And ye know this. Ye can't really think that one side or the other is _actually_ going to destroy or preserve the planet?"

No one spoke for a moment. The first to speak was Falon.

"Sean, you're full of shi'," she said. "You've seen the stuff 'appening, we're living in a dark time."

"Yeah," Nudge said. "So, are you gonna stick around or aren't you?"

Sean looked around wildly, seeing no one taking his side. "Ye're… ye're all mad," he said. "_The world isn't endin'!_ Okay? It just… isn't. No one can do that! We're livin' in the same times we always have!"

"Dude…" Fang said. "You're even more wrong than you were when you said you knew the lyrics to 'Lunchlady Land'."

"Ye don't have t' fight with the CSM!" Sean said. "Ye could defeat the Survivors, nothin' would change. Ye could hide out here in New York for all time and nothin' would change! Nothin'! All we can do is hope we can make it in the real world! Look, here…" He pulled a wad of bills out of his pockets. "Look, I've made some investments," he said. "It's expandin', we can all hide somewhere in the mountains and watch the world go by! 'Cause we're never gonna make a difference. Ever. Why… why can't ye all accept that?"

Tooey walked up to Sean. "Your money won't do you any good when the Survivors win," she said. "And if Max wins, well, I'm hoping for a world where having money doesn't automatically mean you're a good person. So get out of here, Sean, and take your crummy morals with you."

Sean sighed. "Oh, me love… fine. I'm goin'. I… I hope we cross paths again, so ye can see that I'm right." He clasped Iggy's hand randomly before starting to the edge of the building.

Iggy felt his fingers. "He took my wedding ring," he said. "Get back here with my wedding ring, you little prick!"

Iggy bolted after Sean and tackled him, wrestling the ring back from him. "What the hell is the _matter_ with you?" Iggy said, disgusted.

Sean glared and flew off into the clouds.

"Bastard," Iggy mumbled.

"Okay, um…" I said, watching Sean's retreat. "Well, it _is_ getting a bit dark, maybe we should camp out right up here. We'll sleep. Lightly, but we'll sleep."

"Good deal," Iggy said. He started walking toward Nudge. Aelea tried to lean in and touch him, but he nimbly sidestepped her, taking Nudge's hand.

_Ugh_. Most of these people were miserable and sluggish—frankly, relateable. The other six guys were just annoying… in fact, the buff blond was staring dreamily at me even now.

"What are you doing, Dylan?" I said.

"Oh… nothing," he said.

"Nothing? Are you sure? 'Cause it seems to me that you're staring."

He shrugged. "All right, I'm staring. Am I not permitted?"

I flicked him violently. "No," I said darkly. "You're not."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

I slept until the sunrise. You could tell it was sunrise over New York because it got noticeably _darker_ in a matter of seconds.

Just making that up. Seriously, New York at night sucks, especially if you're on a skyscraper roof.

I would have slept longer, but Airy began nudging me. Kind of odd, I'm used to Nudge being the one who does the… never mind.

"Mommy," Airy whispered. "Somebody's hungry."

"Who's hungry?" I asked.

"Everybody," she said, gesturing.

I opened my eyes. One at a time, like I do. A majority of the sixty-seven people on the roof were awake and moving around. I could name forty-eight of them who were extremely malnourished… along with six who were pampered and spoiled and still sleeping. Guess. Yup—our ass-wipe soulmates.

"The guys from the cages didn't get to eat much," Airy said with a pout.

"Hmm, I'll bet," I said. "What do you think, Airy?"

"I don't know," Airy said. "Where do we get food?"

"Lots of places in New York," I said thoughtfully. "Do we take the chance to separate and scrounge? We've got money, right Nudge?"

"Sure," Nudge said, fiddling with the Heartbeat. "I've got a better idea." Tapping it, she produced a large, flesh-colored sphere. "Doesn't look like much," she said. "But I've set it up for every nutrient that a starving experiment needs."

"The, uh, the Heartbeat does that, huh?" I said.

"It does everything," she said. "I'm never gonna unlock all these secrets, not even with the hacker hands!" She displayed her palms, then activated the Heartbeat to produce a six-pack of the nutrient balls. "So, let's pass these out."

"I'll do it," Airy said. She picked up the Heartbeat and began fluttering around, delivering the food to everyone.

"God, she's sweet," I said.

"Yeah," Angel said from behind me. "How's that possible, that something related to _you_ could be that adorable?"

"Well, that's—HEY!" I said, turning to glare at her. "Put a cork in it, Angel. I raised _you_ until you were about seven, and you turned out okay. I mean, you're odd, sure, but… whatever, _I_ like you."

"Cool, cool," Angel said. "Hey, um… what's up with the chick from the end of the first book?"

"You mean Evan?" I said. I turned. The girl was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking out into the city.

"Yeah, her," Angel said. "I forget her name. She's… she's got some stuff on her mind."

"Like what?" I said. "Like the way she wants to get Fang alone?"

"Oh, come on, Max," Angel said. "Show some sympathy. Like _you_'ve never had to retool your entire existence."

"Okay, fine," I said. "I'll go talk to her. I suppose I _am_ accustomed to confronting deranged women after my hubby's…"

"Heart," Angel said quickly.

"Heart. Yeah. And about your 'first book' remark—break the fourth wall again and I'll kill you."

"Noted."

I made my way over to Evan, sitting next to her, my feet dangling off the edge of the building.

"Hey, Ev," I said. "What's going on?"

"Not a whole lot," Evan said. "My life is without meaning. My future is without hope."

"Oh, come on," I said. "You can't let them program you."

"They already have!" Evan snarled, turning to me. "Okay? I've been programmed already. I was _only_ born to be with Fang. I can't possibly envision a life without him."

"Well, envision it," I said. "Work your way around the programming, would ya?"

"Oh, real _sensitive_, Max!" Evan said. "Why are you fighting this? Why did you take Fang from me? How COULD you?"

I tapped my claws. I was ready to strike if necessary.

"Evan, no," Fang said, taking her wrist. He'd popped in silently and without warning.

"Fang," Evan said with a light sob.

"Evan, I really don't know what your life has been like," Fang said. "But you're not what you think. You are… _human_. You can live your own life. I believe that. You're not mine. You belong only to you."

Evan glared at Fang's hand on her wrist, then sighed. "Whatever," she said. "I can deal. Don't expect everyone to be this reasonable. Some of these guys might be pretty close to losing their minds."

"Ugh, I've had enough of this," I said. "LISTEN UP!"

The enormous group of people on the roof went silent.

"I've made my decision," I said. "On my contribution to your ultimate fate. I'm never going to presume that I'll take charge of your lives. But here's my plan. The CSM will set up a sanctuary for you. A place where you'll be protected, where you'll learn how to operate in society."

"So, a school?" someone called.

"Eh, I try not to say that word," I said. "It has negative implications on mutant-kind, doesn't it?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"You guys can be normal," I said. "That's all I've wanted for my flock. It's too late for me, but most of you are pretty young. In the CSM sanctuary that I'm envisioning, you guys will have a chance. A chance to be real people, with the potential to integrate into society. People with career aspirations and fierce crushes on Jack Skellington."

"Jack Skellington?" someone said.

"Yeah. Teens think he's hot, right?" I turned to Nudge, who shook her head. "Crud, I don't know. I mean, Angel has a thing for him."

"Eh, you know, I'm odd," Angel said.

"Right," I said. "But this sanctuary of yours? It's not going to be a prison. You'll be free to come and go, but I hope most of you embrace the opportunity… to learn. About the world as it truly is, not the way your scientists told you it was going to be."

Gazzy tapped my shoulder. "Is this wise, Max?" Gazzy whispered. "Have you forgotten what happened to the Day and Night School?"

I shook my head. "I'll never forget. But the people who would have the desire to blow up a school full of mutants… they're all in one place, guys. We're getting rid of them." I addressed the crowd again. "So… let's get all this harem drama out of our minds and back into freaky anime where it belongs. I want to see you guys living your own lives. That would mean more to me than seeing us avian-humans as the supreme race. A _lot_ more."

Fang grabbed my arm suddenly. "Max," he said. "What is _that_?"

I followed his gaze. Climbing the outside of a nearby building was a thin girl with short black hair.

"Is that…?" I muttered. My hands went to the hand-shaped scar on my face. "That's impossible."

Fang and I took off, alone, and gripping the ledges of the building blocked the path of the climbing girl.

"Madeusa," I said. "Didn't I kill you?"

She looked from me to Fang. "You're Maximum Ride," she said. "Yeah, you might have. There's a lot of me."

"What the holy hell does that mean?" I muttered.

She got up onto a ledge and leaned back next to us. "The name is 'Madeusa'," she said. "Didn't you ever consider what that meant? The first one of us made it up. Partly named for the Gorgon of mythology, sure, but mostly…" She bowed her head, revealing the tattoo on the back of her neck: "MADE IN THE U.S.A.".

"Made… usa," I said thoughtfully. "Madeusa. What… again, what the holy hell is that about?"

"You, my friend, are looking at a trademarked, mass-produced mutant," Madeusa said. "Corporations are making us, selling us. The world of genetic engineering has become… _remarkably_ mainstream since you entered the public eye. I'm privileged enough to have been born a 'Madeusa', the top brand."

"So…" I muttered. "There are hundreds of mutants who look exactly like you being distributed around the country?"

"Worldwide, actually," Madeusa said. "And yeah, there are very few successful titles, but there's no variation within one title." She leered. "You're going to have to face _many_ of us, I'm afraid. The little handprint on your face is merely the first bump in the road."

Fang and I swapped glances. "Look, you're obviously a very intelligent person," Fang said. "Have you considered…?"

"Shh," the Madeusa said gently. "Believe me, the big companies are making the same oversights as your tiny little research labs. You simply can't separate the soul and its free will from a living thing, no matter how many perfect copies of it there are." She smirked. "I can handle myself, folks. You do your thing, I'll do mine."

And with that, she continued to scale the skyscraper.

"Well… that's a surprising development," Fang said dryly.

"Yeah, I'd say so," I agreed.

"What if Sean is right?" Fang asked. "What if it doesn't really matter whether or not we fight? Maybe the world really is going to stay the same regardless."

"No," I said. "That can't be. If we don't stop the Survivors, the world will end, I'm sure of it. And if the _we_ triumph… I'm not going into my grave thinking I didn't make this world a better place."

"But these mass-produced mutants," Fang said. "Why would people be selling them if…?"

"Look, life went on as usual while we were thwarting the By-Half Plan, right?" I said. "It just wasn't made public, is all. Whoever's building these mutants, whatever evil force it is, Disney or whoever, they're probably just not in on the whole 'Survivors' thing." I looked back up at the gathering of winged people on the roof of the nearest building. "Either way," I said, "it's one more thing for us to deal with after the Survivors are gone."

"There's always one more thing," Fang said bitterly.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Some time went by. A lot of time, actually, and boy did it feel like a LOT of time. 'Cause war was brewing, and my life was slowing to a crawl just waiting for something to happen. Every day dragged on, but no day went by without that single rush of adrenaline, from something horrific being discovered about our enemies, to actual attacks upon us.

But those moments ended quickly, and the crawl returned soon after. And today, I was reduced to just looking over my calendar again and again and again.

Damn it, you'd think if we were trying to have a baby I might actually pay attention to the calendar. But the last marking I'd made was on a day nearly a month ago… whereas my menstrual cycle was a grand total of eight days. I'd marked when I thought I might be receptive, but why would I have neglected it for so long…?

Counting in my head, I realized I hadn't _needed_ to make any marks. I was, in fact, _that_ late.

Fang entered our bedroom with a large bowl. "Hey, Max, I got us some ice cream to share," he said.

I examined it. "What, just ice cream by itself?" I said. "What's the matter with you? Stick a pickle in there, for crying out loud."

Fang stared and blinked. "Um… a pickle?" he said carefully.

"I'm just messing with you, Fang. It's a cravings joke. I'm pregnant."

"You… you are?" he said, brightening dramatically. "How pregnant?"

"Pregnant enough," I said. "Two weeks, maybe a little more? If Airy is our baseline, I'm gonna have the baby this weekend, for sure."

Fang was dumbfounded. "This weekend?" he said. "But…" He dropped to his knees to examine my stomach.

"I… I can't even tell," he said. "I mean, there's no way we'd ever really know. There's… DAMN IT!" He got to his feet and kicked the wall. "It's infuriating!" he snarled. "All this for the propogation of the species… what about emotions, huh? What about family? I mean, we've had _no_ time to prepare for having another frickin' baby, and it's coming _this weekend_?"

He took a deep breath to steady himself, then stepped forward to stroke my midsection.

"I mean… don't get me wrong," he whispered. "I will love our baby. I just… I wish we could have that real experience," he said, gazing up at me. "The real deal, being able to rub your big round pregnant belly… we're never gonna know what that's like. None of our kind will."

I stroked Fang's hair. "We'll take what we've been given," I said. "We're good at that."

I heard a creak, and Jeb leaned into our room.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Is that…?"

"It's a little ol' cricket-bug," I drawled. I turned to face Jeb. "What gives?"

"Did I hear correctly?" he said.

"If you heard _anything_, you're even creepier than I tell people. Why?" I said sharply.

"Oh, I just think it's relevant," he said. "You're creating even more life. That's a subject of endless fascination to me. It's why I supplied the genes for… well, for _you_."

"I'm sure _that_ was your reason," I said facetiously. "Sorry, but being paid to be a sperm donor is the dumbest thing I ever heard of."

"Yeah," Fang said, standing up. "Endless fascination, Jeb? Your goddamn grandchild is just another _creation_ to you, isn't it?"

Jeb shrugged. "Well, I'd be lying if I said…"

"Just say it, then," I interrupted. "You _always_ lie."

"Max, I…" he stammered. "Look, I just came in here to tell you that your time draws near and… and I'm here for you."

Fang and I glanced at each other, as we so often did. "Maybe I'm forgetting something," I said. "But I can't recall a single moment when you've actually 'been there for me'. You know what, Jeb? I'm just not a part of your experiment anymore. It's my life, and I honestly don't care if I never see you again."

I shut the reinforced steel door in his face.

"Batchelder: killer of moments," I muttered. "Anyway… if we're not ready to have this baby, well, we'll _get_ ready."


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

A day later, a CSM tough guy gave a call to arms. Not unusual, like I said. There were almost daily scuffles now, things we needed to know. But this one was a little bit different.

"Everyone outside!" the guy called. "You need to see this!"

The flock was given priority to exit the base via the elevator. In the sky directly above us was a huge hologram, the projection of Sand Valducci.

"…and the world shall belong to the flock," he said, his magnified voice echoing through the surrounding mountains. "And so, here I am before the entire world, to tell you…"

"Oh, enough," said a different voice. A ruby-red hand entered the projection, covering Sand's face and forcefully shoving him away. The robot-spider face of Jewel then dominated the shot, leaning in very close.

"My fellow non-humans," he said. "Every day, you hear people complaining about the state of their world. They recognize that the problem is themselves. And yet, you don't see anybody doing a damn thing about it."

He pounded a fist into his palm with a horrendous clanging sound. "I'm doing something about it," he said. "I'm going to kill all of the humans. Every… last… one. And so, this is a rallying cry. A plea for everyone not falling into that category—to join with me, and rebuild the world in a thoroughly non-human image. The Jewel way, as you may recall, is the one true path."

He leaned back, tapping his fingers thoughtfully. "Max," he said unexpectedly. I jumped in surprise, and in the next moment it was if the giant hologram was truly looking only at me.

"I know you're hooked up to this network," he said. "Like most of the world, I witnessed a certain proposal. I'm hoping for your cooperation, so… give the planet your response, Max. Today, please. I'll be waiting." The image flickered and vanished.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do… until Brigid popped out of the ground bearing a tiny recording device on a tripod. She set it down directly in front of me, adjusting it so it wouldn't shake.

"Good focus," she said. "Are you ready, Max?"

"Um, no," I said. "Hold on, what the hell am I supposed to say to everyone in the world?"

"Just answer his challenge," Brigid said solemly. "Tell the world what's in your heart."

And before I could object, there I was, spread out across the sky. Across many thousands of skies, there I was. I looked up at myself for a moment… if I _wasn't_ recognizable to the entire world, it was pretty clear from my eye that I wasn't totally human.

Taking a deep breath, I looked straight into the lens. "I happen to _like_ humans," I said. I heard my own voice echo through whatever impossible machine the old ICBG had designed.

There was silence. Once it was clear that I wasn't going to say anything else, the crowds around me began to applaud. The clapping gained volume and might have eventually gone all-out if Jewel's face hadn't appeared in the sky, directly beside my own. That silenced the CSM quickly.

Jewel only looked up, doubtless gazing at the image of me. And I looked back at him. Neither of us said anything.

"I like the eye," Jewel finally said.

"Oh, thanks," I said, touching my face.

"The claws, too," he said. "It's nice."

"Yeah, I like it," I said.

"And what's that on your face?" he said. "You've got a little Wilson the Volleyball thing going on."

"Don't remind me," I said.

Jewel nodded, and was silent for another few seconds. "So… you're opposing me in my little endeavor here?" he said.

"Yeah," I confirmed.

"Well," Jewel said. "So, for the first time in world history, Max is on the wrong side. We'll just have to see how that turns out."

He vanished. I signaled to Brigid to cut off _my_ signal as well.

The images were gone from the sky, but the exchange was, doubtless, still hanging over the minds of the world population.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

A day later, I was all prepped for giving birth. My legs propped up, leaning back comfortably. As comfortable as labor can be, anyway.

The flock sat around one of the medical rooms, waiting on me.

"How are the contractions, Max?" Nudge asked.

I gave her a thumbs-up. "They're awesome." I sighed. "I am _not_ ready for this."

"Oh, don't be like that," Mom said, entering with a pair of rubber gloves. "Think of this, you only had one day's notice to get ready for a lifetime of joy."

"Yeah, there you go," I said quietly. "'Sup with the gloves, Mom? Are you delivering the baby?"

"You bet," she said. "Wouldn't be able to call myself a self-respecting veterinarian if I didn't see what this was all about." She laughed. "More importantly, I'm a mother. I'm not gonna miss a thing."

"Agh," I growled, feeling something move powerfully inside me.

"All right, here we are," Mom said. "Let's get this baby out into the world."

"Yes, let's," I replied.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The pain passed. It was easier than I anticipated… I have a pelvis made of metal, a long-time built-up pain resistance. Not to say that it was easy… it was not a fun experience. But then I heard the crying… what a relief.

"It's a girl!" Mom said.

I lifted my head… I couldn't see it. "Really?" I said.

"Yeah," Mom said. She passed something I couldn't see to some of the CSM medics. "Clean her up," she said, "and get her back here—quick."

"Yes, Dr. Martinez," they said.

Mom started patching me up, and I slowly eased myself into a relaxed position, beginning to breathe regularly.

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

"Oh, I didn't do anything," she said.

"Sure you did," I said. "You're a devoted grandma." I looked around, remembering that Dr. Martinez's usual accompaniment was gone forever… "You know, I miss Ella a lot," I said quietly.

"Yeah, me too," she said. "Ah, here she is… get the daddy over here."

Fang leaned on me as a fresh, white bundle was passed to us. There was the tiny, beautiful face of another daughter.

"Hmm," Fang pondered. "I… I think I'm ready now."

"Yeah, me too," I said. "What a sweet baby. Airy, come see your sister."

Airy popped onto Fang's shoulders, reaching out a single, gentle finger to touch the baby's face.

"What's her name?" Airy asked.

"Don't know," I said. "Fang… you should field this one."

He looked at me uncertainly.

"You should," I said. "I came up with 'Airy'… tell me what you think."

"Hmm," he said, looking carefully at the baby. "Well, I'd have to think. Um… well, I think she should have a last name. Yeah… she's a 'Ride'."

"She's a Ride, is she?" I said. "Not a Yozan-Rush?" I elbowed him jokingly.

"No, no," he said, smirking. "And her first name… it has to be something special. A name that'll work just as well on a child as it will on… the most important person in the free world."

"Hmm," I said, thinking about that. I didn't know where this was going.

"Forever," Fang decided. "Her name is Forever… if you agree," he said hastily, considering me.

"Is that a name?" I wondered.

"Is 'Maximum' a first name?" he countered. "Work with me on this, would you?"

I looked at the baby's face. Like Airy in her first moments of birth, her eyes, though unable to focus, were darting around inquisitively.

"Forever Ride," I said. I bent in to kiss her on the forehead. "Yep… that's her name. It's completely perfect."


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Some hours later, I rocked Forever forward and back under her blankets in the debriefing room. We were being debriefed.

Amadeus, our massive, bald-headed, squeaky-voiced South African tactician, displayed a screen to the entire flock.

"The Survivors' tower has taken long-term residence in a single place," he reported. "Their mutant armies are patrolling. A number of news stations have taken notice and are keeping a hold on it."

He showed a shot of the tower at the base of a mountain. Taken from a helicopter, the shot rotated slowly, revealing a number of the creatures—classic Erasers, Imogen clones, some of the Torturers we'd come to know, and others that I couldn't identify.

"They're letting all this film be taken?" I said.

"They _want_ people to see them," Mom said. "They're baiting their enemies." She made a fist. "We _will_ take that bait."

"I believe we will, yes," Amadeus said.

Iggy mumbled something to Nudge, who replied, "I can't tell." She asked Amadeus, "Where _is_ that place?"

"Hawaii," Amadeus said. "In the midst of Volcanoes National Park."

"Very near to Kilauea," Mom added. "Currently, the home of several lava flows." She grinned widely.

"Um…" Fang said, raising a hand. "Are the lava flows particularly relevant?"

"Well, there's no better way to kill someone," she said. "A person even gets close to one of those, complete vaporization. You throw somebody into lava, they might as well have never existed. And you can't even be held accountable."

There was a painful silence from Amadeus as well as to John Abate, the third co-presenter.

"Wow," John finally said. "Um… anyway, as Dr. Martinez said, we're taking the bait. The fleet is ready to go."

"We have a fleet?" Tooey said.

"Of course," John said. "We wouldn't be an army without a fleet. Or did you still think that we're a global warming awareness group?"

"Yeah, let's get this going," Mom said.

We dispersed.

"Mom, what's up with you?" I said. "You're all badass all of a sudden."

"Yeah, well…" she said. "I haven't always been. I wasn't _born_ badass like you are. I had badassness forced upon me."

"Is that right?" I said with a smile.

"See… here's the thing," she said, looking down at Forever in her cradle. "I have… many, many children. And _they_ took one from me. They took _one _of my daughters. And for that, I'm not going to rest until every single one of them lies dead."

I continued rock the baby. "Yeah," I said. "Good for you, Mom. We're gonna _end_ this."

Airy leaned over the cradle, stroking the baby's face. "Hi, she-she," Airy said sweetly.

"Airy," I said. "While we're all going to the fight, I want you to stay here and take care of your baby sister."

She looked up at me, hurt. "But Mommy," she said. "I want to help."

"You mean you want to fight," I said. "I couldn't let you do that, Airy, you're… I mean, I couldn't."

Airy got to her feet and looked up at me carefully. "Mommy," she said dangerously.

"Are we doing this again?" I said dryly.

Airy jumped, tumbling effortlessly in the air before landing a double-footed kick straight to my face. I reeled back, and without touching the ground she swept my knees, knocking me down.

I was flat on the floor, and Airy gained altitude, preparing to dive on me. I held out my hands to guard my face, and I felt her shoes bang against my forearm. Standing over me, she whirled around, aiming punches for my face. Though I blocked her over and over, finally her tiny figure slipped through my guard. She grabbed one of my bladed fingers and pressed it against my throat.

"I killed you," she said.

Airy retreated and allowed me to get to my feet.

"Well," I said. "You've made your point well. You can come along and fight, then."

I looked down at Forever. "I guess the baby's coming too," I said. I turned to Fang, recognizing his gentle concern. "We'll keep her in a plane," I decided. "Far away from the action, and well-protected."

Fang nodded silently.

"I mean, why not, right?" I said. "This is the final stand. This is… it. If we can't handle the Survivors _today_, we'll lose everything that matters to us. So we might as well take it all with us."

"Yeah," Fang said. "Um… yeah."


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

My name is Keegan Beck.

You might think you know me. But I don't know if anyone truly can understand who I am, how my mind really works.

I mean, who really _knows_ what I go through? How many people actually have godly powers? How many people live every day fearing that their very existence may unravel the very space-time continuum?

No one can can understand it. No one can comprehend the terror I fear every moment of my life.

At present, the fear was not merely for myself. I sat on my parents' couch, cuddling with Niles. His arm tightened around me as we turned the television to a news report.

"The mysterious tower has now produced more people than it seems possible could fit within it. While the army have continued to decline comment, it is believed that the recent worldwide broadcasts from long-hidden public figures Maximum Ride and Jewel, in which they revealed opposing views on the fate of the human race, is directly connected—"

Niles muted the TV. We knew more than the news stations did. If that black stone tower and its dark army at the foot of Kilauea still existed by the end of the day, it would be too late for humanity. Niles turned to me.

"So," he said. "Does this still seem like the time for parental obedience?"

I blinked. "Niles, that's _not_ why I haven't left this house."

Niles looked confused.

"I need _all_ of my concentration here," I said. "I have to divert his energy."

"Whose?" Niles said.

"Who do you think?" I said. "Who else has been hunting me for weeks? And as long as he's occupied trying to break _my_ boundaries, the Survivors are without his guidance. And now…"

The front door opened. Headmaster filled the doorway, looking exactly like the grim reaper. He crooked his finger towards me.

_Your time is up, Keegan,_ he said. _Come and meet your fate._

Niles' eyes widened. "Keegan, no!"

I stood up. "I have to," I said. "It's my job to turn the tides of this war."

_Good girl,_ Headmaster said.

As I approached, Niles chased after me and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Keegan," he said. "I…"

"Yes?" I said.

"I believe in you," he said.

I handed him the promise ring he had given me years ago. "Hang onto this for a second," I said. "And watch me leave. I'll be back on the couch before you turn around."

I faced Headmaster. "Let's do this," I said.

My evil counterpart and I walked down my parents' driveway, then stood together in the middle of the street.

People have attached labels to me, and the one that sticks with me the most is "omnipotent". At first glance, it's true. I can break the laws of physics. I can obtain any knowledge I require instantly. And I can alter the inner workings of the human soul.

But there's one soul that I'm never going to be able to change. Mine.

I wanted to. I wanted to eliminate all of the fear I felt at facing up to Headmaster. I wanted to erase all of the regret I felt at moments of my life I could have done better. I wanted to feel fully confident, with no fear of death.

But I can't control my own heart. I'm not _that_ omnipotent.

Headmaster faced me. _Stand before me,_ he said. _And prepare to fight! Witness your better!_

He held up his hand. Over his head, I saw the moon against the clear blue sky. The moon was growing larger. In fact, much larger… In mere seconds, the moon was fully blotting out the sun.

With a thought, I removed myself from the physical world altogether and took a vantage point far away in outer space. The moon collided with Earth, the impact destroying all life in mere seconds. The oceans boiled, all of the oxygen in the sky fizzled out. Earth and moon together crackled and collapsed within themselves.

_You see?_ Headmaster said, appearing in space behind me. _I am the more powerful. Only I am bold enough to take extreme action. What you call morals? Merely fear of the unforeseen._

I glared at him. "You think that destroying the things I care about is going to defeat me?" I said. "Now there's nothing to keep me from murdering _you_."

_You don't have the guts,_ Headmaster hissed.

"Oh, but I do," I said. "You know, I seem to recall the Janicke brothers, rest their souls, once said that I could destroy the galaxy in a ball of fire. I'll do them one better. What repercussions could my actions have, Headmaster, if there's no space-time continuum to affect? HEADMASTER, WATCH ME PUT AN END TO THE UNIVERSE!"

And so I enacted the destruction of everything in existence, exploding dramatically in bursts of fire and lightning and noise. I showed Headmaster exactly what he had to fear, putting my powers to work in defiance of physics and gravity and all logic and stretches of imagination.

Then it was over. Everything in creation, bent and broken under the sheer force of my thoughts.

I floated in the nothingness, finally opening my eyes to see Headmaster, hanging in front of me.

_So, that's how you play it,_ Headmaster said. _You and I, all that remains in the universe?_

"I'm gonna bring it _back_," I said snidely. "Things will be back to normal as soon as I SHRED YOU TO PIECES!" My voice escalated into a gruff shriek.

He swung at me, his scythe point coming straight for my head. It bounced off, the sides of my head having instantly turned to iron. Making a quick recovery, he dug his claws into my kneecap. My knee exploded, and immediately his hood-shrouded body turned into a giant hammer which rushed at me. It didn't do a bit of harm, for I was instantly made out of some spongy material.

I called a hatchet to whirl through the air and chop Headmaster in two. He reformed himself into a thick, red jelly; and as I considered his new shape, he forced himself into my mouth and nostrils, suffocating me.

A moment later, the jelly was simply running into a pile of cinderblocks, while I moved behind him and became a brust of pure fire, burning at his gelatinous form. He solidified into a gigantic brass bell, which sealed itself over my fire, putting me out.

I changed back into myself and looked around, trying to find him to get ready for the next move… then, I realized that I was looking up at what appeared to be four tall and thick pillars. Then I turned around and saw Headmaster's head looming down at me as big as a mountain. I was standing on the palm of his hand. He loomed over me and let loose a thick stream of foul breath. I responded by conjuring ropes around his huge fingers and tugging on them, breaking all of his fingers.

He cried out in pain and, abruptly, we were both the same size. I stepped up to him and opened my mouth wide, with the goal to bite his head off. He stepped back and a rope tugged at my neck. I cut it before I could get lynched, then dropped a metal weight on his head. The next moment, my skin was crawling with ants. Screaming, I killed them all simultaneously, then held up a pointed rock the size of a car and stabbed him in the stomach with it.

He vanished and reappeared beneath me, jamming something hard and sharp into my most private of areas. A searing, boiling acid burned away at my uterus, as Headmaster came in front of me once again and laughed darkly.

As he took a moment of sadistic pleasure, I popped my eyeballs out of their sockets and, with a jerk of my head, tossed them into his face. They hit him with the force of a battering ram. Reassembling myself, I snatched the scythe right from his hand and stabbed him hard in the back.

He spun suddenly, grabbing both of my hands and sticking his shrouded face into mine. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move at all.

_And now the battle is purely within our minds,_ he said. _Two gods enter, one god leaves_…_ one remains to reconstruct the universe as we see fit._

I felt him enter my mind, searching for a weak point, the one point that would break me. We weaved a tangled web throughout my brain, he trying to find a new way in, and me blocking him at every turn.

_You can't win,_ Headmaster said. _Our power is that of will, and you never learned to properly strengthen it. I saw all of your loved ones suffer as Earth collided with the Moon, and I will see YOU suffer as well!_

"Hoping to kick me when I'm down, are you?" I said. "Way to go, Headmaster, reeeeeal smart. Take some of this."

And now, my shields against him were all of my thoughts of the people I loved. Max. My parents. And Niles, always Niles. All the people back there on Earth. I would do _anything_ to bring them back.

My shields knocked Headmaster's brain tendrils clear out of my mind. It was my turn to jab _him_. A single jab from my powerful mental spear, and he was broken. A surge of fireworks went off within his mind, and he backed away, crying out in pain and clutching his head.

"It was my humanity that defeated you," I said. I walked up to him as he backed away, but I kept unceasingly following him. "I love the people close to me, and they love me. You talk about willpower? You don't know a thing about it. You have no reason to live."

Finally stepping up to him, I flipped off his hood. He looked up at me. There was his face, his _real_ face.

"Hmm… you're not Monte," I said. "You're not Jeb. You're not anybody important."

He pleaded with his face, dripping with sweat.

"And now, you're not anybody at all," I said.

He faded into white vapor.

I leaned back, all of the tension leaving my body as I relaxed there in zero gravity.

"I've done it," I said. "He's finished…" The mental exhaustion began to catch up to me, and I started drifting, dreaming… I shook my head vigorously. "Stay awake, Keegan. I've gotta bring the universe back."

I took a deep breath. "Make the universe complete again," I said. "_Exactly_ as it was before. Exactly as it was before…"

In front of my eye was a tiny, white pinprick. There it was, the universe.

I rushed over to it, into it, through all of the galaxies, then individual stars, and directly towards Earth.

Then, I was once again on the couch, and Niles was facing away from me as something I couldn't see slammed the front door.

Niles turned around. "Did you defeat him?"

"I did," I said. "We tore apart the universe to get to each other… but he's gone. He's dead. Then I reversed time so I was here and he was gone and… everything else is exactly as it was."

Niles came up to me and put the ring back on my finger. "You done good, Keegs," he said. "I'm so proud of you…"

"I love you so much," I whispered. I turned my eyes to the TV. "Turn the volume back on!" I said suddenly.

Around the big island of Hawaii, dozens of futuristic airplanes were circling, dropping hundreds of men in CSM uniforms before landing in the water far away…

The sound was back on. "Yes," the voice-over said, "I have confirmation that the world-renowned 'flock' are indeed among what appears to be a gigantic guerilla organization sponsored by the Coalition to Stop the Madness…"

"Maybe 'exactly as it was' wasn't such a good idea," I said. "I gotta go help them…"

I tried to stand up. I couldn't.

Niles touched me. "Keegan, you've done something incredible here. Go to sleep. You've earned it. Because of you, they have a real chance. A very, very good one."

"Yeah," I said. "Gotta go to sleep…" I leaned back, still watching the TV through half-lidded eyes.

"I'll be right there, Max," I said quietly. "I'll be here to help you… soon… please forgive me. Besties… forever…"

I drifted off to sleep. I'd be there for Max soon. But until then, she could handle herself.


	42. Chapter 42

**Here's another cluster of chapters… specifically, the **_**final**_** cluster of chapters. Yes. At some point… I'm going to have to let go.**

**Chapter 42**

The entire flock was air-dropped high above the battlefield, keeping ourselves steady and in our star-shaped formation.

"Kellie," Iggy called. "Get me a C-sharp."

Kellie gave a piercing shriek as we dropped, and beneath us, the ground crackled and the mass of Survivor mutants beneath us were frozen in position, some of their legs collapsing beneath them.

"I have no idea if that was actually a C-sharp," Kellie confessed.

"It was not, but it worked," Iggy said. I took his word for it. We've recently discovered that we're all musically inclined, but Iggy is the only one who's actually taken the time to discover what the hell all the notes are called. He's the fella with the ears.

Amongst the frozen troops, a huge bald-headed figure was tearing up the joint, a gun in one hand and a machete in the other, hacking through the helpless mutants. Yeah, that was Amadeus, showing us his full-on military chops.

A holographic projection appeared over the tower, an image of Brigid, looking over us all.

"Smite the wicked," she said. "For humanity, for Earth… FOR THE FLOCK!"

Cheers rang out amongst our troops. Fang swelled with pride. "Attagirl. That's my Brigid."

"She's my Brigid too, Fang," I said. "She's our girl."

He nodded. "I appreciate that."

Fang and I landed on the ground. The flock were spacing around for maximum effectiveness. The Survivors' tower was visible through the plant growth around us, and a number of our soldiers were hurling grenades at it, blowing chips in the stone. Above us, I saw Nudge flit towards it and open the Heartbeat, launching a huge blue burst of energy that blasted a giant hole in the tower.

From the hole, Janssen emerged in her robot suit.

"There's our mark," I told Fang. "We're down here to clear a path to her."

Fang nodded, preparing his gun. We were quickly spotted, and a number of mutants came at us.

What do you mean what kind of mutants? Just _mutants_, all right? The sick and disgusting kind. They gave up on the "hot stuff" bit a while back, I suppose. Well, Kellie is fairly new and pretty attractive, but… for the most part, mutant troops are bad news just to look at.

I used my claws to slash and pierce; one of them I tugged down so he would break his head on my knee. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang kicking some serious ass, until a huge one grabbed both his wings and twisted. No, no, no, no, no—

The huge mutant was blown to bits by an entire round of machine gun fire. Fang stumbled forward, free, and spun around. Emil Yozan stood there, clad in a leather jacket and camouflage pants, grinning gleefully.

"I'm here for ya, boy!" he whooped. He hopped over a dead body and took down another.

"Automatic machine guns," I mused. "Why don't _more_ of us use those?"

"Pistols just look cooler when you do this," Fang said, blowing the smoke off the tip of his own.

Someone in battle armor popped up then, the face-concealing helmet molded in the shape of a raven's face. Fang, Emil, and I kept an eye on this person, unsure of who they would be attacking.

The face parted automatically, revealing the innocent face of Isobel Rush. "Hey, Fang," she said.

"Mom!" he said, alarmed. "Where did you…?"

"I really should have let you know," she said. "I wasn't just paid for my involvement in the experiment. My father worked… very, very closely with the School." She sighed, examining herself. "I decided that I might as well take some of the dollars he left in my bank account, and some of his old Itex contacts, and… put them to good use." Her armored hands balled into fists. Her eyes flickered briefly to Emil, who was carefully slinking away, and she did a double-take. "Emil?" she demanded.

He tensed up in mid-step. "Ahem… yeah. Hi, Isobel."

"What are you DOING here?" Isobel demanded.

"Same as you," Emil said. "I'm here for our son."

Another platoon of mutants came along, and Emil, with a wistful glance in Isobel's direction, tossed away the magazine of his gun and replaced it with a new one, then began blowing holes in the oncoming horde with a thunderous "YAAAAAAAAH!"

We didn't have time to see how Isobel was taking this, because a mismatched pair of lithe, black-feathered shapes were spotted gliding above us.

"Siblings Liu," Fang said. "They're mine."

"I know they are," I assured him. We launched off the ground together, aiming for them.

"Whoa!" Lang called, noticing us. He banked, but Fang collided with his gut, and they went tumbling through the air together.

While Fang and Lang were entangled together—Huh. Fang and Lang. That never occurred to me. That's funny… _anyway_, I went for Shey, but unlike her brother she could actually fly, and wasn't quite as easy to catch.

"Take it easy there, Phyllis Diller," Shey said. "We're just here to watch."

"You tortured my husband," I said. "I'm gonna hold you down so he can kill you."

I extended an arm, grabbing Shey by the back of her red tank top. She still dressed the same as she used to, despite the feathers. And the wings and talons. And the freaking tail.

Turning her around, I kicked a leg into her face. It made her cough. She was durable.

As we chopped and slashed, my husband and her brother grappled viciously and crashed into a cliff wall. Fang darted away with ease, but Lang tumbled down to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and skittered like a dinosaur into the palm trees.

"Yo, Max," Shey said. "You know, you shouldn't have to flap after me this much. We've got a nice tailwind, heat rising off the volcano, it'll keep us aloft."

I glared at her. "Are _you_ telling _me_ how to fly?" I said. "Don't you think I know what I'm doing? I can handle myself in the air, I've been doing it all my life. And you're telling me how it's done? I'm Maximum Ride, bitch."

I stabbed her in the stomach, and we careened to the ground. An explosion drove the two of us apart, and I pancaked on my back in the stone.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

I sightlessly navigated the battlefield. Any guy coming close to me got flung over my shoulder. For I am the White Knight, the Swedish Chef, Lady Chatterley's Lover. You are basking in the awesomeness of the Iggy POV.

Nudge kung-fu'd her way through the crowd, and I did my best to keep near her. I was pretty good at it. Honestly, I wasn't the slightest bit worried. Me and Nudge, we're a team. Nobody's gonna defeat us in this lifetime.

"'elp me!" someone called weakly.

"Is somebody in trouble?" Nudge called. "It's… oh, no, Jax!"

Nudge ran over to a fallen figure, and I followed her. "Jax?" she said quietly. "Jacqueline, what happened?"

I could smell blood and bile. Jax had a wound across her chest and stomach.

"Ooh, it's bad, Nudge," I said. "I can smell it…"

"We'll take care of you," Nudge said. "Come here… Iggy, carry her. We need to find a hiding place so we can patch her up…"

I picked Jax up and found my way instantly to a crag in the cliff wall, hidden behind a boulder.

"All right, set her down," Nudge said. "Gently… well, you're always gentle, Iggy. Get her shirt off."

I pulled Jax's shirt off, and she whimpered in pain as it passed over her deep injury. Somehow, Nudge caused the Heartbeat to spray some fresh-smelling liquid over the wound.

"Okay, this'll ease the pain and seal up your wounds," Nudge said. "But it'll take a few minutes to—_wow_, your boobs are huge—I mean, um, we'll have to take a few minutes to keep staunching the bleeding. Iggy, help me keep her clean."

"Oi, you guys," Jax said, her breathing ragged. "Lemme ask you somefing… If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?"

I hesitated in my mopping up of her blood. "Anywhere?" I said.

"Anyplace, anytime, anyfing…" Jax confirmed. "Wha' would you choose?"

I considered it. "Well, I envision a giant mansion by the sea. Or the ocean, or… wherever, I'm not too fussed."

"A mansion?" Nudge said. I felt her eyes on me. "For you and me?"

"For all of us," I said. "The entire flock… and our children. And outside the mansion, the world will be the best it's ever been, and we'll be able to watch it going by, accepting us…"

"Hmm," Nudge said.

"And there'll be a lot of rooms," I continued, sinking into the fantasy. "We'll have pets, a ton of them. Lots of dogs and lots of cats and maybe a monkey. An aviary. An aquarium. I should go back and say that all the pets are organic, none of those poor mutant animals. And video games!"

"Video games?" Nudge said.

"A ton of 'em. A big room full of all the old arcade machines, and in the living room, we'll have a big TV… Wii, PlayStation, Xbox. Every night, all of the flock and all of the flock's children will gather in the living room to talk and play and be a real family. And after a full day of no worries or responsibilities, we'll go to bed… and when I say go to bed… well…" I leaned over Nudge and kissed her forehead. "'Cause I'm never gonna be tired of all this, not if we both live to be a hundred."

"That's… wow," Nudge said. "Way to have a dream, Ig."

"It's a possibility," I said.

"Wha' would you say, Nudge?" Jax said.

Nudge thought about it for a moment. "Miniature golf," she decided.

"Wha'?" Jax muttered.

"I've always wanted to play mini-golf," Nudge said. "Sometimes I think about it, it just pops into my head… and I'll just let out a great big sigh, because… well, there are a lot of things that this family hasn't _ever_ experienced… you know, I wouldn't _live_ on a putt-putt course, but as a family outing… I'd like nothing better."

"Why'd you ask, Jax?" I said. "What would _you_ wish for?"

"I jus'…" she muttered. "I wanna be par' of the family."

"The… family?" Nudge whispered.

Jax nodded. "I know everyone still finks bad of me. Max. Gazzy. Even my own sister."

"Jax, no one could still resent you, not if Gazzy—" I began.

"No," Jax said. "I know 'ow you all feel… but where I am, in my mind… we all ge' along. We're a real family. Even Sean."

"Sean?"

"I knew 'im for years," Jax sobbed. "I don' _want_ 'im to be evil," she implored, as if she was begging us to change it. "I wish we could all work fings out… the flock… the world… _life_."

Nudge pressed her forehead to Jax's. "Never stop dreaming, Jacqueline. Sometimes, it's all a flock has."

There was a distant explosion. Much closer, something heavier than a human hit the ground and charged for us, scratching its way around the boulder where we were concealed.

I stepped over to the entrance to our hidey-hole and punched the Eraser full in the face. It snarled and prepared to slash at me, but someone immensely strong, immensely heavy, pulled it away and crushed its skull, giving a low, satisfied rumble as it did so.

"Thanks, Cell," I said, clasping its almost-human hand between both of mine. Behind me, Nudge had clothed Jax and was supporting her weight on her shoulder as she stepped out.

"Hey, Cell," Nudge said. "We were just talking about something interesting… if you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?"

The Cell rumbled deeply, then lifted its arm to point at something in the distance. "TOOOOOOOO… EEEEEEEE…" it replied.

"T… Tooey?" Nudge said.

I listened in the direction he had been pointing, and sure enough, there was Tooey, spinning and kicking through a crowd of unknown mutants.

"Tooey!" Nudge said again. "You're in love with her, aren't you? Oh, Cell…" She tugged it into a hug. "That is so cute!"

"I…" the Cell groaned slowly. "IIII'M NOT… HA… HA… HUUUUUMMMMAAANNNNNNN…"

Nudge hugged it still tighter. "You're more human than most people I could name," she said. "And you love Tooey, it's so adorable, and she can be sure, absolutely sure, that it's real, that your feelings are real… you're so sweet…"

"You gotta tell her," I said. "When the battle's over…" I ran my hand along his sculpted face and head. Literally, sculpted from stone. "It must have been a strain to come up with this human shape," I said. "And now I know why you did it."

"I…" Cell rasped. "WANNNNNNNNT TO BE HUUUUUUUMMMANN… FOR THE FLLLLO… OCK… AND… FOR HERRRRRRRR." It was more syllables than it had ever strung together before, and it was clearly worn out by the act. I believed it; it had gone through a lot of trouble for the flock, and it would go through a lot more.

"Jax, can you stand?" Nudge asked.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"Then we're all gathered up," Nudge said. "Back to the war, everyone."


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

I swooped over Max and lifted her to her feet.

"Thanks, babe," she mumbled. "Where did they go?"

"We'll get them back," I said. I yanked her toward me into a kiss, a violent one that nearly broke both of our noses.

"Mmm… yeah," Max said. "Listen, I think I'm gonna swing back around to check on the baby. You'll be fine here?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'll be scouting around. See you in a minute."

We said it casually, as if there _wasn't_ a very large chance of getting shot any second. It was easier to pretend.

Max took off to one of the planes offshore, where Forever was being watched over.

"Hey, Fang."

Emil had caught up to me. "How you doin', kid?" he said, winking at me. "You and Max, that's, um… it seems like a healthy marriage."

"Nothing else like it in the world," I said.

"Mm-hmm. Listen, I wanted to ask about your mother. Do you… do you think I have a chance there?"

I looked over my father, considering. "I don't know, Emil," I said. "Really not sure. I mean, it'd… it'd be great, I think, to have a full family. But I couldn't tell you if it would work." I spotted something, then narrowed my eyes. "Anyway, I've got bigger fish to fry. Best of luck."

"You too, kid," Emil said. "You too."

A lava flow was running through a trench far off in the distance, and standing a few yards away from it was a ruby-studded form that had been a pivotal figure in my life for four years. I advanced on him.

"I wouldn't come any closer, friend," Jewel said. "I don't know if you watch a lot of TV, but it may have caused you to think you need to _touch_ the lava for it to kill you, but you'd be wrong."

I froze in my tracks, and behind me I heard the pounding feet of an Eraser, coming straight at me. I ducked, and his momentum caused him to tumble over my head and roll towards the trench. He wasn't as close to the lava flow as Jewel was, but he was instantly vaporized. Of course, we'd already known Jewel was damn near indestructible. I took a single step backwards, definitely not wanting to get closer.

"Thanks," Jewel said. "Wouldn't have been able to do it myself. This guy, on the other hand…"

Jewel grabbed a passing CSM soldier and tugged on him. The man vanished.

"Get over here and fight," I said darkly. "Come on."

"No, no," Jewel said. "I've made an oath recently, see… I don't lay a finger on mutants. Not anymore."

"Why?" I demanded.

Jewel began to walk toward me. "You and I," he said, "have humans to thank for our birth. The advances of human science provided the processes that make us… _us_. Now, the _reason_ we were made, is to be better than humans. And we owe it to the world to be just that. That's why I will kill humanity. Is anything ELSE filthing up the biosphere? Murdering the very ground they walk upon for meaningless gains? They're a pestilence and you know it. We'll do what's never been done: civilization with no humans." He paused, nodding at me with satisfaction. "It's gonna work."

I stepped backward—Jewel was still emanating heat from his time spent so close to the flow—and processed what he was saying. "This is where your entire life has brought you?" I finally said. "It's wrong to kill mutants, but all humans must die? Don't you get it? _Everyone_ is human. Look at you and me. We both make promises. We think about brighter futures. We keep other people near us, and love them. You're just like me, Jewel. You have a soul. That makes you human. It's wrong to kill _anyone_, Jewel. You've been wrong about who you should be for too long." I breathed in the dry, ragged air. I had never spoken so much so quickly, but I was talking for my life here. "We can fix that," I finished.

A round, metal object was thrown from a long distance away and landed directly between Jewel and myself, then began beeping.

"Whatcha got there?" Jewel muttered. "Electromagnetic pulse grenade? Oh, no, no, NO—"

It went off. It caused no harm to me, but Jewel stopped moving, his processes completely disabled.

Another explosion crackled the ground, throwing both me and Jewel through the air toward the lava flow. I spread my wings and took to the air, but he was still paralyzed and landed right on the lava flow.

"No!" I said.

I had expected him to vanish instantly, but instead he landed atop the lava with a splash. That second, the electromagnetic pulse wore off and he began struggling. "No," he said. "No, I don't—ah!"

He tried to move, but he was stuck. I noticed that the rubies along the sides of his leg were beginning to glow, and crackle… and he was sinking…

"You!" Jewel said suddenly, looking straight up at me. "A trick! You distracted me so your buddy could hit me with… with…"

"No!" I said, soaring high above. "No, I swear, it wasn't—"

"I'm stuck," Jewel said darkly. "I'm dying… AND I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"

He pointed his single free arm at me, and a gun rose from his forearm. He began shooting a huge round of flechettes at me. I dodged and rolled as many times as I could, the heat rising off the lava keeping me, mercifully, aloft.

Just when it seemed like he had an unlimited number of shots, he stopped. He adjusted his arm, then pointed a single finger at me, and I immediately began to twitch and writhe in agony. But that invisible beam only caused pain, no actual damage to the body, and I managed to fight through it.

Jewel gave up on that quickly. He dropped his arm, letting it slam wetly against the lava. He had sunk very low, only his head and a part of his torso still visible… still existing.

Jewel opened his pincers and a flamethrower shot out of his mouth. He was desperate now. There was no way it would ever reach me. The flame was still shooting at me when, finally, his diamond eyes themselves glowed white hot and crackled. Jewel was gone, dead, incinerated.

My wings were exhausted. I had to land. Far, _far_ away from this site.

I banked and dove towards a cliff. "Wow," I muttered to myself, getting down to my hands and knees. "Amazing…"

I realized that a tall woman, silver-haired despite being only middle-aged, was standing next to me. Turning towards me, the orbs that were her eyes were silver as well.

"Lao Hu," I said, finding myself on edge once again.

"Jewel," she said. "Jewel's… dead."

"Yeah," I said. "He died trying to kill me. His dying act was to break a solemn oath to himself. That is so Jewel."

"I loved him," Lao Hu said.

"I know," I said. "I'm sorry." I looked her over. "What is it you _do_, exactly?"

She turned to me with burning fury, and her silver eyes went off like a flashbulb. Immediately, I was in excruciating pain and could see nothing but thin white lines dancing around.

I went from my hands and knees to being flat on my belly, writhing madly, unable to move. I dimly registered the sounds of Lao Hu's footsteps leaving.

A few minutes later, I heard flapping wings and someone landed beside me.

"Hey, Fang," Iggy said casually. "What happened?"

"It… it was Lao Hu," I muttered, blinking rapidly. I thought maybe the dirt beneath my face might be coming back into focus. "She's blinded me… I can't see a thing… um…"

The "um" was the result of my realizing who I was talking to. He took it in stride.

"Big baby," he said, picking me up and hoisting me over his shoulder.

He lifted me, then guided me through the air.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

Sean witnessed the destruction of Volcanoes National Park all around him. His finger shook on the trigger of his gun, as he looked around frantically, for _something_ to show that he was right, that this wasn't really important…

He turned and ran away, hiding in the jungle, but very nearly collided with Lang and Shey.

"Oh, hey, kid," Lang said. "How are you doing?"

Sean pointed his gun from one to the other, still quivering.

"Something bothering you?" Shey said, smiling.

"I don't want the world t' end!" Sean blurted out. "This… this can't be happening! I don't want it… I don't…"

Lang reached out a claw and squeezed Sean's arm. "It won't," he said. "Trust me, it won't. This is nothing but two groups of deluded people duking it out. They don't matter."

Sean sighed, lowering his gun, but continued to shiver tensely. "That's what I been sayin'," he said. "But…"

"Well, have faith in yourself," Shey said, ruffling his hair. "You've got to keep your eye on reality. See, just like us, _you_ remember that the world begins and ends with 'big business'."

Shey reached a hand into Sean's pocket and whipped out a wad of money.

"Ooh, you're thrifty," she said. "Ever seen a _million_ dollars?"

Lang produced that amount from one of his own pockets. "Counterfeit, of course," he said. "But after we've deposited it, made our investments, who's gonna know?"

"I had plans fer this money," Sean muttered. "Big, epic stuff that I thought was gonna happen…"

"It will," Lang said, now holding Sean's money in one hand and the counterfeit million in the other. "We've had eyes on you, Sean. We'll hang onto you."

"Yes," Shey agreed, leaning down to look him in the eye. "And as if I needed anymore convincing… you are a beautiful man."

Sean raised his hand and gently stroked her face. "God, ye're so soft an' feathery…" he muttered.

"Yeah?" Shey said. "Is that how you like your women?"

"Never thought of it before," Sean said. "But startin' now, yeah."

In a matter of seconds, Sean's lips were to Shey's in a tender kiss. She squeezed him and nibbled his lips hungrily, scraping, tonguing, sucking…

"I'll leave you to it," Lang said. He slipped his handfuls of cash into their pockets. "Don't drop our money."


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

In the ocean-going airplane farthest from the battle, Forever was kept under tight lock and key. We hadn't intended on going back to check on her before it was all over, but I needed to catch my breath.

Well, it had been caught, and I was going back in. Just as I turned to leave, however, an explosion rocked the plane, blowing a hole in it.

"No… way… in… hell," I annunciated. "Well, if that's the way they're gonna play it." I snapped my fingers at one of the nurses aboard. "Get me the Baby-Bjorn."

As I strapped the sleeping baby to my chest, two people appeared in front of me.

"Keegan, Niles," I said cordially.

"Would have been here sooner," Niles said. "But Keegan had to catch her second wind after killing Headmaster."

I nodded to her. "Been there," I said. Of course, this overload of information was boggling my mind, but, you know, you gotta stay cool.

"So, um…" Keegan said awkwardly. "Anything I can do for you?"

I shrugged. "Just pick up a couple of guns, guys. Beyond that, Keegs… well, all I could ask for is a blessing. A stroke of luck. Make our guys aim better than their guys. And for God's sake, don't let anything happen to my baby."

Keegan nodded. "I protect you and your baby birds, Max. It's what I'm here for."

"Cool," I said. I took flight immediately.

Nearing the island, I saw Imogen. On a sudden inspiration, I caught her eye and whipped out a Ouija board. With my nimble fingers, I spelled out "Save the world, Imogen". She scowled at me and flipped me off, and we shared a laugh.

Then I saw Janssen. She had gone down to the foot of the tower in her robot suit, and accompanying her, following her loyally like a puppy dog, was… wait, Kellie? No, she wouldn't…

The anomaly was explained quickly. Kellie limply lifted her hand, and said in a deadpan voice, "Look, Mommy."

She was pointing at Kellie… the _other_ Kellie, my Kellie. She had taken notice, and bolted through the crowd to get a better look at Janssen and her companion. I landed next to her.

"Who's _that_?" Kellie shrieked, pointing to the clone.

"Kellie #4, meet Kellie #5," Janssen said. "I'd like to thank you, #4, for making room for the newer model. I like her _much_ better."

Kellie shook with rage. "You killed the ones that came before me, and now _this_?" she said through gritted teeth. "_I_ am Kellie."

"Oh, no you're not," Janssen said smugly. "I deliberately made the smallest possible tweaks to Kellie's physiology, making her stronger than you, faster, more venomous. And her mentality? Deeply altered. She is a hundred percent obedient for all eternity."

"Hey, #5," I said. "She's talking about you like you're a new car. How does that make you feel."

The new Kellie pondered that for a moment before inquiring, "Feel?"

It was all we had to hear. With a keen of fury, the Kellie at my side rushed to the one at Janssen's, tackling her. They rolled down a hill where I could no longer see them.

"You've made your old mistake again, Mary-Anne," I said.

"It's Marian," she sneered.

"Try to imagine how much I care. Anyway, you're not learning from your past at all. In your determination to make your new Kellie obedient, to remove her free will, you also made her soulless and inhuman. There's no way to separate that. This _will_ lead to her downfall."

In response, she shot a plasma cannon at me. I dodged, keeping my hands on either side of Forever's head.

"You know, I _really_ don't like you," I said. "You're obnoxious, you have no charisma, and you make women look bad in front of all the other genders."

I kicked my robotic foot into her robotic chest, knocking her down. "You see what I did there, I took your old 'all genders are equal' bit and threw it back at you."

"It wasn't a _bit_," Janssen sneered. "It was quite genuine, I assure you."

"Yeah, do me a favor and never, ever explain it, then," I said.

I heard screeches, the sizzling of venom and acid, and the concussive sounds of immense friction against the ground. It was Kellies colliding, I was sure.

"Come on, Kellie," I whispered. "Show them what the human soul can do."

Janssen got back to her feet. "Headmaster," she called. "Protect your child."

The cloaked figure with its scythe appeared, but the hood was whipped off immediately to reveal Keegan. "Sorry, Mary-Anne," she said. "Headmaster came looking for me… I had to kill him."

"Wha… WHO ARE YOU?" Janssen screeched. "No one could kill Headmaster! His powers were godly!"

"Well, mine are godlier," Keegan said, shrugging. "I beat him, and I'm helping my bestie Max Ride beat _you_."

She banged the scythe she was holding against my metal hand, but quickly got rid of it, returning to her more "civilian" attire.

"I'm Keegan Beck," she added helpfully.

"_You_'re Keegan Beck," Janssen said. "I see. Well then. How about that. Well." She ran through a few more arbitrary one-liners, then roared, "DIE!"


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

I battled the robot suit, occasionally finding myself performing either an evasive or offensive move that was well beyond my physical capabilities—Keegan's support at work.

One of the Kellies returned from the bottom of the hill, bearing the dead body of the other. The one that was still alive was the _real_ Kellie, my sister who had been loyal to me. I knew it because she wore an expression of triumph. The other one couldn't form any expressions at all.

Janssen saw her new Unholy Assassin, defeated instantly by the true Kellie's passion in battle.

This kindled up some rage in me dear ol' mum, it seems. She lunged for Kellie. A distraction that was all I needed. I rammed the robo-suit with my shoulder, cracking it in two. Janssen tumbled out of her armor, unprotected, and slipped off the edge of a cliff.

Keegan and Kellie came to my side. Now, see, we're not stupid. We know that, unless your Standards and Practice people are really strict, "fallen out of sight" doesn't equal "dead".

"Let's go make sure," I said.

But a moment later, I didn't need to. Janssen had popped back into sight, carried by someone riding a jet-pack with features that seemed a bit more elaborate than necessary.

"What the…?" Janssen muttered. "Anne Walker?"

"ANNE?" I roared. "Come _on_!"

Uncombed, unwashed, and wild-eyed, Anne grinned at me. "Come on, Max. I had to save my old boss."

"But… but…" I spluttered. "Come on! You told me you were interested in _my_ destiny. All she wants to do is kill me."

"Hmm… that can't be good," Anne said.

"Don't save _her_!" I protested. "She and ter Borcht left you to rot in the School! What exactly is motivating you here?"

Anne thought about it. "Hmm… clearly, I went insane a long time ago. Bye!"

She pressed a button on her complex contraption, and she and Janssen were immediately surrounded by a ring of fire, which quickly became a sphere. The impenetrable fireball began to float away, speeding up until, halfway to the horizon, I heard a sonic boom. Not even I could fly the speed of sound.

"Hot damn," I said. "Mommy got away."

Kellie clenched a fist.

"Well, we've got the rest of the war to deal with," Keegan said. "Come on."

An out-of-breath Brigid jogged over to us. "Max," she said. "You've got to see… it's…"

"No, I know what you're talking about," I said, my eyes lifting to the air above her. Three people were flying over us. Shey, Lang… and Sean.

"Oi, Max!" Sean called. "I've found me true callin'. Yer Survivors are down, but it don't matter! It's all about big business, me friend!"

"Oh, I am so gonna kill you," I growled.

"Max!" Brigid shrieked. "The baby!"

I looked down at Forever, strapped to my chest. _God, no_… her head was rolling limply to the side, as if her neck was broken.

I placed my hand on the side of her head, and quickly realized that she was perfectly fine. At my touch, she lifted her head and looked up at me, blinking quizzically.

"Thank God," I muttered. "You're okay, baby… Now where did those bastards…?"

"MAX!" someone called from a distance.

Oh, no, what now…?


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

I flew in the direction of the call. I saw my destination; a small, grassy hill where the flock was standing. Kellie joined me in landing there.

I counted the flock. Thirteen people standing here atop a hill… could that be right? None of my mutant family had died in the war? It had seemed impossible, but here we were…

"We're done," Fang proclaimed at the sight of me. "They're defeated. It's all over."

He explained to me what had happened. There were casualties on our side, but ultimately, the Survivors' power had crumbled. Jewel was dead—strangely, I felt a twinge of remorse there. There was no more base of operations for our enemies—none.

"You IDIOTS!"

We turned on our heels, and saw Lao Hu, advancing on us, enraged.

"You fools!" she roared. "You think defeating the Survivors had ANY meaning? You've done nothing but make the world aware of just what kind of damage we _mutants_ can cause! You'll face endless problems now! As if you've just protected anyone, as if anyone was in danger—well, now someone is in danger. And it's only _YOU!_"

On lower ground from the flock, a soldier prepared to shoot Lao Hu down. Mom stopped him.

"Don't," she said. "I'll take her in."

"In, Dr. Martinez?" someone asked.

Mom stepped up to Lao Hu. "This war has taken someone who was very dear to you," she said. "I can relate. Come here, Lao Hu. We'll get you a nice place to rest."

Lao Hu stumbled into Mom's comforting arms. Another villain taken under our collective wings. But honestly… what did Lao Hu ever do to us?

I turned to the flock. "This isn't over, you guys," I said. "A lot of people got away. Janssen and Anne… Shey and Lang and Sean… and there are some others who were never accounted for, like Sand and Mud and…" I sighed, putting a hand to my forehead. "It's never going to end, you guys."

Lao Hu looked up from Dr. Martinez's embrace. "They'll rebuild," she said.

I shook my head. "No. They won't. I won't give them that chance. I'm taking them all down _right flippin' now_."

I lifted a machete from some guy in the crowd and examined my reflection in the blade. My hair was reasonably kempt and free of blood, but my focus was on who I truly was. I was a cyborg. I was a warrior. I was Max. I was more Max than I'd ever been, more Max than I'd thought it was possible even for me, Max, to be.

I turned to the flock. "Can everybody still fly?"

Imogen saluted. "Ready to die for ye, Max."

The Cell reached out a hand to take Tooey's. Surprised, she looked at the hand, then into its face. "Hey," she said shyly.

"Let's go!" Kellie said, beaming.

"'S'all good," the twins said in unison.

Gazzy wrapped himself around Falon, then looked up at me. "Max, I… well, you know. We've been through a lot. I'm ready for anything."

"It's kind of strange, isn't it?" Angel said. "That we're still carrying out what we started years ago?"

"But this is how it's supposed to be," Iggy said. "All of us together."

"And we _will_ be together," Nudge said, stroking the back of Iggy's hand. "Always. No matter what happens."

Airy fluttered up to me, kissing her baby sister on the head. "It's because we're special, Mommy," she said.

Fang stepped up to me, brushing my hair out of my face and leaning in tightly, so that all I could see were his black, black eyes.

"It's time, Max," he said quietly.

"Yeah," I whispered back, entranced by him, not entirely sure what he had just said.

I snapped out of it. "Yes… yes, it's time," I said. "Flap those wings, everyone. We're clearing out."

We took to the air, in pursuit of our fate, our destiny—our forever.

**THE END**

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**Well, that'll be why the story description says "The end draws near, but not really." Perhaps I should explain. You see, it's my view that the flock are never going to be finished fulfilling their destiny—but they will **_**always**_** be in complete control of it. That's what the story conveys.**

**I should clarify—it's what **_**my**_** story conveys. As far as I can tell, the actual **_**Maximum Ride**_** series seems to be going for a moral of "the flock have no free will, ever" but, well, it's not in my nature to be that much of a downer.**

**Anyway, it's quite the journey I've taken writing this and reading people's responses. I hope to read many more responses in the future, and when the final Max book is published, maybe my interest in the fandom will be renewed. Or I'll burn down the bookstore that sold it to me, whichever. I'm surprised I haven't done that by **_**now**_**, actually.**

**Nevertheless, **_**Maximum Ride**_** will always be there, to remind me how much a fictional character (or rather, a bunch of them) can resonate in your very mind and soul, how much laughter and heartache can come from a book. Fact is, **_**Maximum Ride**_** is a treasure and I'll never forget how it affected me. And someday, I hope that I'll be the author, not the reader, of something just as amazing and wonderful.**

**Fiction is a magic thing. I'll never let it go. Goodbye, everyone. Don't try to fly with wet feathers.**


End file.
